Citrus Aurantium Dulcis

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.