C. Douglas Caffey

PLUMS AND PRUNES

In the Spring, comes a bud
from a bush, pick a plum…
sweet and juicy is the fruit
eaten in its prime, yummy yum…

That young and tender fruit
can never become a prune…
for time was not long enough
since it became a bloom…

Would you rather be a plum
and live not long enough…
to show the world who you are
and never ever strut your stuff…

Or, on the other hand, my friend
would you choose to be a prune…
though wrinkled and displaying age
yet living beyond Spring to June…

A prune in June
shows plum maturity…
and old age is sweet
when stewed in posterity…