Holy of Hollies

It is written 
that the almond
sprung from the
genitals of the
Near Eastern 
Goddess Cybele. 
And I thought that I
was just eating nuts. 
They say that woman’s
essence is in apricots 
and scallops, and floats
like the lotus and lily. 
But like some *sshole, 
I thought you were a ring
to wear, some black stone
to venerate. I consecrate
the stone and tried to wear it,
like an amulet, making
you a holy of hollies, my crypt, 
my cave, my Mecca. 
My ring, like a halo. 
Almond-shaped
Yet I never got the symbolism.
Beautiful and many breasted. 
A stone fitted
from a different dimension.

George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Havana Times, South China Morning Post, The Buffalo News, and more. 

See all his poems on Tea House here.

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