pick it up
sniff it so it smells like something sweet and honorable
feel the spines like dragon’s scales
over fiery yellow and forest green
pineapple has false armor
and colors glow like a tree in the sun. an apple’s flexible roundness
or an onion
or a carrot
they can be chosen if they are red enough
or round enough
or big enough
pineapple doesn’t give such things
pineapple must be chosen only by people who know to look underneath
and pineapple knows these people.
pineapple must be read like poetry
must be analyzed like music
must be studied like a lesson
and must ripen like the tide.
to make it fresh and sweet
it must be chosen at a delicate time like butterfly wings
it must be cared for
and respected
this is how to choose pineapple.