when i was s child
you were never a dwarf
always grew to 98 feet
i was sure you were
god’s neighbor
and the men who climbed you
–a task i never achieved–
were angels swaying in the wind
to bring down your nuts
which i savored
rum and coconut water
was my father’s choice drink
i drank you straight from the hush
without a straw so that some of your juice
inevitably dribbled down my chin
onto my clothes tattooing me
a coconut drinker
the botanists say you
are not really a fruit
rather a drupe
with your three layers
exocarp mesocarp and endocarp
your coir was once stuffed
into mattresses and almost
every part of you during
ever phase of your life is used
my grandfather carried your
hard flesh around in his handkerchief
and chewed on you throughout the day
my mother would grate your dry nut
with your three eyes showing
and make her own cooking oil
on saturdays she baked
coconut drops — your hard meat
cut into small pieces, mixed with sugar and ginger
a favorite candy among many children
on sunday you would be grated and juiced
your milk sweetened our rice and peas
brian puts your medium jelly in his green salad
he sandwiches your dry oily flesh
with dried mango and banana into
a fruit sandwich
your childhood is brief
six to ten years
then you begin to propagate
producing as little as 30 and as many
as 75 children yearly for about twenty years
clearly you don’t believe in birth control
and perhaps that is because you’re
monoecious and cross-pollinate
although the female flower is larger
they claim you appearance
was first introduced by sinbad the sailor
who in one thousand and one nights bought
and sold you suggesting you are
originally from Malayalam
but the controversy continues
between those who believe
you originated in the Americas
but no matter
we claim you in the Caribbean
nobody kyan tell we
yu nu one a we
“coconut man is coming out
and everyday you can hear
him shout:
get your coconut water
it is good for your daughter
make you strong like a lion
gives you iron…”
Opal Palmer Adisa 