Sundaram Chauhan

Poisonous Fruits

Strange are

the ways of nature.

While the sweet

nourishing fruits

get plucked away

at the peak of their youth

the poisonous ones

hang snug

among their kin

nurtured kindly

till their very last breath.

© Sundaram Chauhan

Image Credits: worldatlas.com

80 comments

  3. Brilliant and true. I was just thinking that yesterday about the blueberry-like bushes that grow on a local path. You can taste in a second that it’s bitter so we stay away. Nature is amazing! It lets us know what is good for us or not! I love your poem. 💛

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    • Thanks Lia…🏵️…and right you are. Nature’s ways to protect what it wants to are unique, so bitterness is what it uses in this case. Makes me think who is it protecting though? The fruit or us. Or both? Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 🙏🤜🤛🙏

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      • Such a great questions Sundaram… an amazing question! The thing is that birds can eat and digest these same berries without trouble. And the berries are best eaten for the plant to regenerate (because their seeds end up fertilized within animal droppings). I love your question it boggles my mind! 🙌🙏💖

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      • So the fruit ultimately gets eaten, but not by human beings. Something reserved especially for birds by nature then, out of greedy humans. And they eat only so much as they need, unlike us, and help grow more of them. Fascinating answer my friend. Thanks as always…🙏:-)

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    • Absolutely, unwanted they are, and that works in their favour. They don’t get killed to cater to someone’s else’s needs. What else do they need, other then living their full lives? And that’s what they get. Just turned the perspective. 🙂

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      • Ahh! So well said. I like it.💫
        And ykw, I was just randomly discussing this poem with my bro. I said the same thing to him as it was really the first question that came to me. And he said to me…they are unwanted for those who wish to pluck them. For the tree, all fruits are same. The bitter ones protect the tree if someone does any harm to them, by falling down.
        I was taken by awe at this. I wanted to share this with you.😅 Credits goes to your poem also, after all.💫
        You presented a unique and beautiful idea through your poem, Sundaram.💜

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      • I like your brother already. 🤜🤛 As a symbol, most sweet things (people, animals, plants) often get the rough deal, while the ones with bitter exteriors manage to keep unwanted attention away from them. Yes, they might seem unwanted, but tag me unwanted and give me a room full of books, a paper, a pen, and loads of money, and I’ll happily live away my life, among family and friends. Just like the poisonous fruits. But sweet ones are the first ones to be plucked away. Not much the ‘wanted’ tag does to their safety. Does it? 🙂

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    • Correct, but again, aren’t we ourselves a part of nature? We’ve been trying to grow apart from it, no doubt, ever since the agricultural revolution, but we are inseparable. How can nature differentiate against itself then. All is nature’s play my friend, to protect some, and slay others, for reasons best known to itself, or maybe, there are no reasons at all. Who can fathom it? Thanks for stopping by, and engaging in the discussion. 🙏🤜🤛🙏

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  15. Woahh.
    The irony and the metaphor was painted so beautifully.
    I love how you zoomed into something ordinary and unnoticed and gave it a whole deeper meaning.
    A beautiful piece of poetry, indeed.✨

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  16. I agree to you. Anything being unwanted doesn’t mean that it is good or bad but just that it is not as per our own desires. Hehe.
    This tag pretty much goes against their safety!😂

    Ykw, I was looking for some hope for unwanted ones. You gave me acceptance and he gave me assurance. And I am grateful for both!!

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  24. This little brilliant observation served to us in great poetic form logically opens a philosophical question..”Which is it better to be? The sweet nutritious fruit that serves to nurture nature’s own, but lives a short life, dying in the prime of its youth, or the poisonous bitter fruit, that only would serve to make ill or bring death to anyone who tries to ingest it, but…..lives safely and for a much longer period,left to hang with the others of its kind..untouched and undamaged? I think how each would answer this question, will tell a lot about them:) Wonderful writing, deep and imaginative, yet based in Nature’s quirks and reality. Thank you Sundaram!

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    • No matter how each one answers this, we are increasingly and unknowingly choosing the option of our own safety, at huge costs…turning into more of the poisonous kinds. And whoever remains sweet, noble, is generally erased from the scene, by violent action, or by utter inhuman inaction. Thanks Karima for joining in. 🙏☺🙏 Your comments are the pieces to preserve. Very analytical, precise, and sincere. Have a great day ahead. 🤘🙏🤘

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  25. Yes sadly you are correct.and as you say, we all are being molded by the realities of society today and choosing continuance over community. How wonderful to imagine a time when being sweet and noble is not an automatic death sentence. I love and really admire, the wonderful discussion your poetry always brings to the table..so many hungry and waiting to partake and share:)

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