Pierced

A vendor left the knife standing in the squash so they wouldn’t have to hunt for it between slices. The cheap orange handle echoes the flesh it had just opened. The cut face looks almost violent, all exposed seed and pulp, though it’s only a pumpkin waiting to be portioned. I studied abroad in Naples twenty years ago, and my host mother’s pumpkin pasta was my favorite thing she made. She’d have bought hers exactly like this.

Shot April 30, 2026
Canon EOS R7, RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM at 39mm, f/2.8, 1/200s, ISO 250

Photographer: Brittany Peterson
www.sodabreadstudio.com