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"Romance" (Janet Snell) 

Artist’s notes:
“Romance” connects the man’s heart to the woman’s back because the woman often carries the burden of the relationship. I used blue and purple, because to me they are more erotic and unexpected than red and pink. — Janet Snell

The man wants the lady apple. 
It’s unripe, but he’s hungry now,
and there are plenty of other fruits
in the fridge.
 
All apples sweeten in the dark,
so it doesn’t matter which one
he chooses. Peel spirals below his knife.
He brings the flesh to his mouth.
 
A worm’s sudden slither is the last thing
he expects to see — the apple
hollowed out, juice running bitter
down his chin.

A peek inside the creative process
In “He peels his love like an apple,” I was aware of the danger of cliché, so I had the worm — that tiny serpent in the garden — make a surprise appearance in an unusual setting. — Cheryl Snell

Cheryl Louise Snell