“I imagine "How To Grow A Peach Tree" as a woman I get a glimpse of on the street walking somewhere in these rough modern times, and while she is so beautiful & striking, something about her seems ancient, like I could see her in an old movie or an old painting or read about her described by somebody who cannot have her.

That is to say that this poem, gorgeous, immediate, and stimulated by technology and all of the useless information we're constantly consuming, feels eternal. There are secrets within this poem, intimacies that I felt shy looking into.

It will make you think of all the times you've talked too much without actually truly saying what you wanted to say, and all of those silences where you were so sure of something you didn't want to say out loud.”

— Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Pigeon Pages 2022 Poetry Contest Judge and author of Dreaming of You and Peluda