An Alien’s Notes on first seeing a prunus-plum tree
by Jane Matheson
This is a device for recycling air
…so intelligently functional in its design
yet aesthetically pleasing in its line.
These delicate rose-petalled flowers…
so soft to stroke, you can do it for hours!
It is wondrous too
that in the heat of the summer sun,
these flowers become
marble-sized ruby-red rounds
of delectable fruit-flesh.
Humans call it a prunus-plum tree
I would very much like
to take it back with me.
This poem is included in Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand, edited by Mark Pirie and Tim Jones (Interactive Press, 2009).
You can buy Voyagers from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle e-book, or from New Zealand Books Abroad, or Fishpond.
You can also find out more about Voyagers, and buy it directly from the publisher, at the Voyagers mini-site.
