Early Grapes

In our haste to taste the sweet flesh,
We started the harvest weeks early.
At first, we found soft and simple grapes,
Easy to pluck from the vine and eat.

Soon, some of our party found a hunger--
Insatiable, no matter the number of the grapes they ate.
They ate and ate, and soon, could no longer
Taste or enjoy their early bounty. They passed
On to different paths and we saw them no more.

Another group discarded their bounty,
Opting to wait for the time of harvest
And its real and truly satisfying fruits.
They too, left us behind, but stayed on
The horizon, beckoning us to follow.

But I took up the early-grapes, entranced by their taste...
They were the sweetest that I had ever known.
Soon, my stomach soured to them, while my mouth
Lusted after the succulent and happy taste.

In order to save my stomach, I left the early-grapes
And followed after those wise souls who waited
For the true and glorious harvest--
Whose grapes, I found, were sweeter by far
Than the early-grapes of days gone by.

--C.R.E.