Dream Fruit
By Shawn Misener

The australopithecine peeled dried lizards from the rocks
as the man in the pinstriped suit and leather case marched past.
He was resolute, determined to get to the office on time,
unaware that he was on a prehistoric beach.

He pulled a blender from his spotless jacket and assembled it
as the tide pushed in under his alligator shoes.
Why he stopped, or where the blender materialized from,
was lost on him, but he wasn’t surprised to discover that
you can plug appliances into the sand and they actually work.

Do you have any fruit?
he called back to the australopithecine,
who was busy stuffing lizards into his gaping mouth.

A giant sand worm, ala Dune, blasted through the earth between them,
and belched out a cornucopia of fruit the size of a dump truck
before burrowing fitfully back into the sand.

The man and the australopithecine stood still for a moment,
confused, scared, looking to each other for answers,
but there weren’t any, so they ran toward the fruit bounty,
leaving baked lizards and a blender in their wake.

In slow motion, the australopithecine dove into the pile,
biting into pineapples and giant pears,
while the man stood uncomfortable off to the side,
poking one of the freakishly large grapes,
not knowing how real the fruit actually was.