My 7-year-old son Ryan recently discovered the joy of eating mangoes, Trini style!
I've always cut them up for the kids to eat, but one day last month we were in the backyard, and I decided to show him the authentic way to eat it.
For those who are not sure what that is, brace yourself. It's messy. No knives, no forks, no perfect little squares.
You start by peeling the skin off with your teeth, and before you know it, you are fully covered in slippery mango pulp and juice, floating on cloud 9!
My mom brought over a whole bunch of them this weekend, and Ryan went at them again. That night, before he went to sleep, he started talking about the experience, rhyming as he went along, and in between all the laughter, he ended up making up a pretty good poem!
Here it is:
"Ode to Mangoes"
By Ryan
Oh Mangoes
Smells so good in my nose,
Juice flows down my hands to my elbows,
It gets all over my clothes,
Where will it go next? Nobody knows.
It continues to flow down to my toes!
We will probably need the hose,
I suppose.
Oh Mangoes
The Robins are looking, and so are the Crows,
Probably wondering what I'm doing with those.
I'm really enjoying them and it certainly shows.
I can no longer smell the rose,
Only these magnificent mangoes.
That's how it goes,
I suppose.