Depending on where you are in the world, the Guava reigns supreme for eight months of the year, but particularly during the March to September months when the trees (Psidium guajava) ripen. They are adaptable, drought tolerant, and – depending on the variety – will produce fruit two to three years running.
In India, it flourishes up to an altitude of at least 3, 000 feet. In the American tropics, as elsewhere, Guava is enjoyed as a jelly or juice, or, simply as a fresh fruit. Indeed, there are some who at breakfast cannot do without Guava jelly on bread or toast for its beguiling sweetness.
In the Indian subcontinent the Guava is called amrood and its chief pollinator is the honeybee (Apis mellifera.) That inimitable combination inspired me to write the poem below:
Behold the bee Behold the guava blossom
so busy welcome to her bosom
she all comely lissom
you’ll agree her boon, winsome
yet free and easy money-spinning besom
her honey-spooning spree. worth a Queen’s ransom.
And she resplendent in pristine white
her dew-decked tiara refracting the sunlight
through fleet, sweet-scented clouds of flight
and fancy
which her tale-wagging buzzer, the pastural bee,
indulges with nectarine intimacy.
Copyright © 2015 Azim Lewis Mayadas