Peel

 Providing protection from the elements;
 sun, rain and cold.
 It covered the fruit
 while it became the fruit.
 It wears the scars of time;
 Scrapes and bruises,
 blisters and nicks.
 Without it there would be no fruit.
 No seed to replenish the source,
 no pulp and no meat.
 It provided the attraction.
 It is what you see
 when you see the fruit.
 You do not see the sweet inside.
 You see the color of the peel.
 You see the texture.
 If there were no peel,
 the juices and sugars inside
 would drain out and dry.
 Yet you discard it without any thought.

-Keith Gerber