Uncovering the Heart

Close your hand around it, smiling
Feel the shooting sensation, pain.
Trace your finger over the knobbled flesh,
Avoid the spikes.
Trace the lines, the join of the skin,
The fresh, young green skin.
Then dig in your fingernail,
The line splits apart with a satisfying squelch.
Inside snuggles a smooth, shining sphere,
Removed from its silky
Pearlesent,
White cradle that lined the underside of the thick green skin.
It gleams, brand new,
With swirls and dancing patterns like mahogany,
A rich, woody, chocolate brown,
The heart of a horse chestnut.