Ode to Pineapples

Fruit of strength, bravery, and courage,
What is it in you that gives you these qualities?
Is it your spiky, fierce outside,
Or your soft, tender inside?
That is so sweet, passionate, and loveable,
Oh, loved by all you are,
How could one resist you?
Though you have a hard center,
Your summery, ombré skin combined with
Your brighter-than-the-sun yellow blood
Bring positivity to every day spent with you.
 
Tasty fruit, sweet as can be,
What is it in you that allows you to appeal to most everyone?
Not only the people who eat you,
But your fellow fruits beside you,
The ones that grow near you,
The ones that support and surround you,
Cuddling up next to you,
When you are delivered to brighten someone's day.
Cut into slices and other fancy shapes,
Sticks shoved into you and your friends,
Made into colorful shishkabobs and tasty fruit bouquets.
 
Who, that has not eaten you, has ever experienced true happiness?
Who can think they have reached joy or self-fulfillment,
The top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,
Without touching your sharp shell, or your firm, green leaves?
When one shoves a knife into your abdomen,
Leaves you chopped up on a paper plate in the beaming sun,
One must first appreciate your beauty shimmering in the sunlight,
Before devouring you with no regret.
Once every last part of you has been dispersed,
The insects that have been waiting by
Swarm the plate and cherish your last juices.