When Ripe

I buy them when they're still 
part green and firm, that inside
sweetness not yet fermenting.

We're taught the process might
be hastened if they're dropped
into a paper bag and kept 

out of the light, or buried 
in the rice bin. It will be days
before their skins turn soft

and yielding, before the gold
aura of their musk declares
their readiness for opening.

Then cleave one cheek on each 
side, eat around the seed or heart:
most sweet, closest to bone.