Unicorn Challenge 1st September 2023
The Unicorn Writing Challenge is to write a post inspired by this image, of no more than 250 words.
I wrote a poem DEATH IS A BOWL OF CHERRIES (word count 102).
Death is a Bowl of Cherries
Death is a Bowl of Cherries You know the expression? Life is a bowl of cherries. (What if you hate cherries?) Please, pardon my aversion, They give me the pip! Can you make rose hip? From them? Ahem, No. You can make poison though. Have you Heard of cyanide? ‘Tis Inside the pit Deep within its heart There lurks a sinister part What? What’s that you said? Eat thirty or so, ground down to a powder, You’re dead. How d’yer know? Because you’re already turning blue. The victim grasps his throat, and says, What did you do? I caused the end of your days. Toodle pip! Toodle oo. Lesley Scoble, September 2023
I hope my poem doesn’t put you off eating cherries. The body is very efficient at evicting whole pips without them causing any harm. You are more likely to choke on them than get poisoned!
Spit the pit!
The best thing to do is to spit the pit out. Kernels of cherry pits (and other fruits) contain amygdalin, which is a cyanogenic glycoside, a chemical that the body converts into cyanide. Yikes!
Powdered pips
You need only about three mashed up pips from the Morello cherries (they’re those nice big juicy ones) to cause mortal calamity. The smaller, more ordinary cherries, like the red or black, need about seven to nine powdered pips to cause a life-threatening problem. More info here.
Enjoy your cherries!
My thanks to Jenne Gray and C. E. Ayr for this cherry of a prompt.
Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright, (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.
LesleyScoble.com 
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