When was the last time you shared an Opal?

She will.  Share.  But first she buys.  To be precise, to be scientific (and isn't that at the core of food?) -- UEB32642.  The Opal apple.  The melding of a Golden Delicious with Topaz.  Note the russeting around the stem.  She's thinking of all her friends with beautiful aging hands & faces. She slices an Opal.  This fruit, unlike others, unlike what the mirror says, will not brown.  Will not show its age.  The flowers, too, etched in glass -- remain untouched.  Unlike the poems written three decades ago, she now is re-reading, retouching.  At what age, are words ripe for the picking?