Sunshine
Clementines
Mama packs them
in my lunch
all winter long.
They burn my eyes
after so many days
of dull gray clouds.
They flare
and singe my fingers
when I tear away their skins.
In my mouth
they explode!
refreshing me with promises
of summer.
Michelle Barnes at Today’s Little Ditty sent me some sunshine this week. She nominated me for a Sunshine Award. Thanks, Michelle! I needed that. The skies have been dreadfully gray. I hope no one will mind that I decided to pass along the sunshine with the poem above.
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© Elizabeth Steinglass, 2014, all rights reserved
Nice poem. Glad you found some sunshine on your dreary weather day. We would love to have some gray skies and rain! Dry as a bone and clear skies every day all winter. Not a good thing for us.
Thanks, Rosi. It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for commenting.
I love the idea of a ball of sunshine packed in a lunch – “In my mouth they explode!” Fabulous poem, Liz! =)
Thanks Bridget!
My mouth is watering; I can just imagine that burst of flavor biting into one of these. Thanks for the shot of sunshine!
Thanks Jama!
A wonderful clementine poem is the perfect way to pass along sunshine, Liz! Thanks for sharing. “They flare/and singe my fingers/when I tear away their skins” – what a great image!
Thanks Robyn, I struggled with those lines.
Have you read “Oranges” by Gary Soto? Your poem reminded me of it (the ending in particular): http://www.personal.psu.edu/ram437/blogs/favorite_poem_psu/2010/10/oranges-by-gary-soto.html
No, I hadn’t read it. Thank you for sharing it with me. It really transported me to that time and that place and that orange in his hands.
I love this, Liz, & it too reminds me of Soto’s Oranges. I love that you kept the sunshine through the poem. I keep a constant supply of Clementines at school, good for a treat, keeps me from the donuts!
Thanks, Linda. Yes, I really wanted to keep the sunshine consistent throughout and also never actually use the word sun. I keep a constant supply on the kitchen counter. I just love seeing them there all winter–in addition to eating them.
Nice juicy orange poem, Liz! I think I’ve got an Orange poem somewhere.
I think I might have two! Both mid-winter poems.
What a delightfully sensuous poem and a perfect sunshine metaphor with the “flare” “singe” and “explode”!
I agree!
Thanks, Violet!
Ooh, great image with the singed fingers! What an inventive way of looking at a clementine – and just the shot of sunshine I needed in these interminable gray days. Lovely poem, Liz!
Aren’t they delicious? I love all of the strong verbs you have in this poem, Liz: singe, burn, explode, flare.
Lovely! Find the sunshine wherever you can!
Yes, beautiful sunshine in convenient pieces and just the perfect size for a lunchbox! I do like how you pass it on. 🙂 …even if I am a week late to comment! How did that happen?