I can’t help but think
That the word ju-bi-lee
Sounds a lot
like ju-ju-be

Remember sitting at a tea house in Seoul?
We looked for jujube seeds
Daechu at the bottom
Of my cup like wrinkled treasure 

You were uncomfortable
legs bent sideways
while we sipped through
the communal work of becoming

Taste and see

Jujube
tastes a lot
like jubilee

A seed becomes fruit
made to nourish and destress
like the work growing and piling up
then pressed into the end of an era 

Bearing fruit is work
blooming takes time
does a red date grow up
just to wrinkle in the hot Asian sun?

I drank from your cup
and gave you my own
these seeds—an offering
take them in whole and receive

Taste and see

Jubilee
looks a lot
like jujubes