Alexis Bates
Unsolicited Advice (About That Boy)
My roommate stops me from tossing
the bananas, already browning,
the rot makes them better
for the stomach to digest
I left them
shrunken and colored with time
in the fruit bowl to contaminate
my pears with their taste
I left them until a heavy breath
at the dining room table
would break the fruit from the stem
I left them longer than that
I left them until I could be drunk with fermentation
because I needed
to take the edge off
I left them longer than that
the bananas, already blackened,
were eaten
and I doubted their ability
to nourish me