Green-Striped Melons

They lie
under stars in a field.
They lie under rain in a field.
Under sun.
 
Some people
are like this as well—
like a painting
hidden beneath another painting.
 
An unexpected weight
the sign of their ripeness.

Copyright Credit: Poem copyright ©2008 by Jane Hirshfield, whose most recent book of poems is After, Harper Collins, 2006. Poem reprinted from Alaska Quarterly, Vol. 25, nos. 3 & 4, Fall & Winter, 2008, by permission of Jane Hirshfield and the publisher.
Source: 2008