“Green & Red” by Ashley Naftule
When I was six,
my favorite part about eating watermelon
was harvesting the black seeds.
My parents would cut off the green skin
so I could slip my tongue into ruby flesh
and pluck out the seeds.
I’d store them in my cheeks,
piling up one black teardrop after another
until I had enough ammunition stocked up
to machinegun my sister’s friends.
My parents would always tell me
to stop shooting them.
I said I wasn’t:
I was trying to kiss them with
my seeds.
I tripped over a curb
the day before my seventh birthday.
On the ground, my head near the concrete,
I cried as my knee oozed watermelon red.
I stuck my fingers through the cracked shell,
feeling for the seeds in my legs.
Imagine my horror when I found nothing there.
About the poetry Ashley Naftule
“Green & Red” was originally published on FormerCactus on September 2018.
“Green & Red” by Ashley Naftule: Poem Summary & Analysis
Ashley Naftule’s poem “Green & Red” is a tender, surreal reflection on childhood innocence, memory, and the body’s transformation over time. What begins as a nostalgic recollection of summer watermelon rituals gradually evolves into an introspective meditation on loss, physical pain, and the imagination of a child confronting a world that doesn’t always align with fantasy.
Summary of “Green & Red”
The poem opens in a summer memory: a six-year-old’s delight in eating watermelon not for the fruit itself, but for the small, black seeds embedded in its flesh. The child meticulously gathers the seeds in their cheeks, transforming them into playful “ammunition” for spitting at their sister’s friends—an act described with both mischief and innocence. When their parents scold them, the child insists they’re not being aggressive, but affectionate: they are “trying to kiss them with my seeds.”
The mood shifts abruptly as the speaker recalls falling the day before their seventh birthday. With their head against the concrete and knee bloodied, the child’s imagination seeks comfort in metaphor: the red of the injury mirrors watermelon flesh. In a quietly devastating moment, they reach into the wound expecting to find seeds—symbols of playfulness and continuity—but instead, they find “nothing there.”
Analysis: The Imagination of Injury and the Loss of Innocence
A Child’s Imaginative World
The poem brilliantly captures the tactile and sensory experience of being a child. Naftule uses vivid imagery: “slip my tongue into ruby flesh,” “black teardrop,” “knee oozed watermelon red”—each phrase evokes not just the memory of a fruit, but the immersive physicality of childhood. Watermelon becomes more than a summer treat—it becomes a medium of love, war, and language.
Seeds as Symbols of Growth and Emotion
The seeds function symbolically throughout the poem. In the early stanzas, they are tangible tokens of affection and fun. Their black color and teardrop shape hint at deeper emotional resonances—grief, memory, desire—that come into focus later. The seeds, once stored in the cheeks and used playfully, become a metaphor for expression and emotional release.
The Shocking Absence
When the speaker falls and bleeds, their instinct is to look inside for those same seeds—as if their very being was made of fruit and joy. But the stark realization that “there [was] nothing there” marks a turning point: a moment of disillusionment and embodied reality. The absence of seeds is not just a physical lack, but a loss of innocence. It’s a subtle and moving depiction of the first time a child realizes their internal world may not match the real one.
Ashley Naftule’s Voice and Style
Naftule’s writing often navigates the boundary between the surreal and the personal, the whimsical and the tragic. In “Green & Red,” their poetic voice captures a moment both ordinary and profound: a scraped knee that becomes an existential crisis in a child’s mind. Their ability to ground surreal emotion in physical imagery is what makes this poem resonate long after the final line.
Discover More Work by Ashley Naftule
Ashley Naftule is a playwright, poet, and journalist based in Phoenix, Arizona. Their poetry often blends speculative themes, queer identity, and emotionally vivid storytelling. To explore more about their work, visit Ashley Naftule’s poet bio page on AZpoetry.com.
