This week's blog has proved a bit of a banana-skin for me. Adele has written most informatively about the plight of the banana, threatened by a new, more deadly strain of banana wilt (Fusarium fungus); she also quoted the song 'Yes, we have no bananas' - which, incidentally was sung by Blackpool's Atomic Boys in the decade after the second world war.
Kevin Ayers (another recent sad loss to the world of music) punned on that title when he recorded his fine album 'Yes, we have no mananas' - and I sometimes worry that time is running out to make the fundamental changes that are necessary to keep the planet in serviceable shape for our children and generations to come, let alone save the banana from extinction.
But I don't want to get too gloomy, so I'll stick with the slightly Spanish twist this bananablog has taken and give you a poem inspired (if that's the word) by the somewhat unedifying sight of Rafa Nadal munching his way purposefully through multiple bananas during breaks in a tennis match. All tennis players do this. Maria Sharapova always managed the same feat more elegantly!
Bananadal
Taking your seat
between sets,
you devour two bananas
with professional resolve.
Each practiced unzipping
and purposeful devouring
leaves no time to savour
the texture or the flavour
of the fruit, your fuel.
Repowering in minutes
means you cram in flesh
and masticate fixedly,
mind on the next game,
gulping down pulp
as you retie your headband.
Then you're on your feet,
trying to hold nerve,
ready to serve.
Thanks for reading. Have a fruitful week, S :-) Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook
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