By Melinda Palacio
for Roberto at Babita’s Restaurant and for Eddie

Roberto knows the tricky fruit is best
used in jam. He doesn’t listen to
culinary norms, but tries it
in a port sauce on a rack of lamb.

The fruit looks like a lemon gone wrong,
wanting
to be a sweet pear.

Its name squeezes member and embryo:
membrillo.
Not too pretty to a foreign ear,
but music to my native tongue.

I stick my finger into sweet paste,
taste brilliance paired with manchego
cheese.

An ounce of quince and a second
of sweetness to forgive
the sorrows of a lost home.