take a bite

it's a grocery
store
of love,
or like, or something
resembling
both, or neither, hard
to tell
in these flickering
fluorescent lights
what's real,
what's
fake,
what's soft and ripe.
take these tomatoes
for example,
or these peppers.
who's to know how
hot or juicy
they really are,
until a bite is taken.