If I am to be punished 
For the maker of an apple thief 
For a gift I did not want 
For creation uncreated  

I wish instead to pick at a lemon tree 
With lustful citruses 
And misshapen buds   

Maybe pomegranate would be safer 
Though I would miss the snow and autumn    

Anyhow  

I needn’t this cage around my heart 
if you will try to beat it anyway. 
I’ll instead bind the bars 
And make you forget 
So you do not regret 
Because I don’t, really.  

Its only made me stronger. 

Dominic Dailey is an aspiring professor and student of literature. In an attempt to better understand poetry, he writes it himself using different styles, deconstructing how this popular medium is used and why. In his poem Ribs and Fruits and Absolutes, Dailey follows the pattern of fruit and women often being associated with one another to express his frustration of being perceived as one.