when I was four or five
and my mom took me
to a home where rhubarb
was growing.
The old woman there
cut the thick red stalks,
peeled back the tough outer skin
and then sprinkled
the naked stem
with sugar. The crystals
stuck to the wetness.
Take a bite, she urged,
my first invitation
to learn how
it takes so little sweetness
sometimes to transform
a sourness into something
we might learn to love.