Writing with Fruit (Grades 9-12)

For today’s prompt, we’ll look at the way fruit has helped some poets write about what is sweet, fragrant, and ephemeral. First, write a list of your favorite fruits. Next, pick one and write a list of your favorite qualities of that fruit. Then write a list of memories where you or someone else was eating that fruit. 

Now, read Persimmons by Li-Young Lee. Who or what do persimmons remind the poet of? How does this make the poet feel?

Now read Chen Chen’s Self-Portrait as So Much Potential. Why does the poet see mangoes as “fearless”? Why might he dream of one day being like a mango? 

Then read Robert Hass’s Meditation at Lagunitas. What do blackberries remind the poet of? What does the poet see as the problem with naming things, like a blackberry?

Now, use your lists to write a poem about a fruit memory, bitter, sweet, or brief.