TWO OF DIAMONDS

The postman knocks
A parcel labelled fragile
Dirty brown paper tied up with white string
Postmark Papua New Guinea
Date smudged
Bird of paradise stamps in an unknown currency
Twin seals of red wax
Addressed in flowery black handwriting
This way up
Inside
A container
Small brown seeds like rice grains
No instructions
I plant the seeds in pots on the windowsill
Sunshine and water go to work
The strangest flowers bloom
Long stems
Delicate petals of fiery orange
Blood-red stamens
Their scent is dark earthy intoxicating
Humid forest and ripening fruit tree
Purplish red berries form
Eat me they whisper
The taste is at once sour and sweet
The room rushes away
A thousand years ago
Ten thousand miles away
I stand alone in an impenetrable forest
Chattering monkeys leap high above in the dense canopy
Jaguars prowl
Water drips from the mouths of broad leaves
Sap oozes from the bark of colossal trunks
The insects play a symphony
Led by an invisible conductor