LatinosUSA

Quinces

The blooming quince flowers
are more than common poppy 
copycats. Flamenco dresses
of red petals bring summer early,
while their stamen are bunched
into diminutive haystacks. I cannot 
tell you about the sour fruit to come,
or how generous the harvest will be.
I haven't tasted quince jelly
with my Spanish grandmother,
can only tell you that, in the moments
before she passed, her eyes widened
like an owl's, and the light that filtered
through the blinds was brilliant
like an orchard's worth of quince flowers, 
as if they were simultaneously
sacrificing each other, knowing
neither would see their fruits again.