Before breakfast,
I will love you
with the bag of oranges
I have taken from the kitchen,
while you lay sleeping
I will wake you
softly at first
tracing the warm hum of your body
orange by orange
rounded crown, slender, faintly toothed
I will slice the fruit
under ripe, unwashed into pieces
without paring
sieving with my fingers
until slippery smooth
I will steep you in citrus
layer you in pulp and peel
spooning tepid juices
the length of your toes
parting your lips
tender, firm, salient
I will love you
before breakfast
in the dark
orange by orange
until our bed, rooted
in your hips, elbows, thighs
is as fecund as an orchard
high hammock, deep loam
summer sweet
Nicole Zuckerman: I am an ESL teacher in Pennsylvania always looking for new ways to challenge students to view language as a unique form of self expression. I am an avid collector of poetry, as well as aspiring to be a poet worthy of those whom I collect. I love flea markets and auctions and I seek out ephemera because I see beauty in that which defines our daily lives.