Pistachios

When I was a kid, pistachios

Had shells they dyed bright red

And sure enough, that color

To your fingers quickly spread.

 

It didn’t wash off easily,

But left a tell-tale clue

About what you’d been snacking on,

That bright red proof on view.

 

Today, I cracked pistachios

And wondered, as I ate,

Why someone once decided

To disguise their natural state.

 

No matter why, that dye is gone –

Red fingers not the answer.

For all we know, pistachios

With dye might have caused cancer.