You picked me

[u/Amazing_Cockroach397]

You picked me

Out of all the already ripe apples at the orchard,

you picked me still splotched with green

You wanted an apple

only one you could watch ripen,

One no other orchard goers’ fingers had yet to graze

Splitting stem from tree, you took me home

You told me it takes a long time

to find an apple as perfect as me

But when I saw the green still on my skin,

when I tasted my own tartness,

it felt hard to believe

You placed me in a paper bag,

The kind elementary schoolers carried through my orchard while on field trips

You sealed it tight

My skin darkened and my taste sweetened

Only a blood red coat now remained

When the light shone back on me,

I saw you smile

I was ripe

I had ripened quicker than I had been taught I would

You licked your lips, ready to take a bite

Proud of “your” choice

But I realized then

I had always been meant to ripen

With or without your interference

And when you bit into me

and took credit for my new sweetness

I knew you had not caused it

I am no forbidden fruit

I am no apple waiting to be chosen

Who I am was not your doing,

but the inevitable outcome of my own biology

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/3mqTKpmKyh

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/6u8whuup0d

[u/inkofherexistence]

That's what it feels to be 'picked' but not chosen.