Never try to force
a pomegranate, cut
through its plump equator
then hold each half,
cut side down,
in your open palm –
loosely, loosely –
then tap the leathery skin –
gently, gently –
with a wooden mallet
again and again and again
until the rain of seeds begins,
steady, abundant. But
remember, I only want six.

M.S. Rooney lives in Sonoma, California with poet Dan Noreen. Her work appears in journals, including Leaping Clear, Ekphrasis, Naugatuck River Review and Panoply, and anthologies, including American Society: What Poets See (FutureCycle Press), edited by David Chorlton and Robert S. King, and Ice Cream Poems (World Enough Writers), edited by Patricia Fargnoli. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.