Citrus

Have you ever become engulfed in an orange?
Eating oranges properly has no adventure.
It takes almost all the excitement out of it.
When you split the orange into two hemispheres
That still have the skin
You can start seeing the beauty.

With the first hemisphere, you pick at it like
You would do any other day.
Making sure to pick off all the white clinging skin
The reward isn’t worth all the work.

With the second hemisphere, you take a deep breath
And plunge into the citrus sea of an orange.
Just shove it in your mouth
With absolutely no dignity.
For a split second you are consumed by
The sweetness of the juice
Like you forgot how to swim.
The citric acid attacks your nose
And stings at your lips.
It burns at your face, your existence.
But it’s a pleasant burn,
The kind of burn you get
When you see that Someone
But without the strained heartstrings.
The kind of burn you get
Right before the runner’s high kicks in
But without the sore legs.
And the wonderful juice you were just drowning in
Is dripping down your chin
Leaving a sticky trail.
But it doesn’t matter and you can’t help but smile
Because you know you are going to smell like citrus
And it’s going to remind you of what you just did.
The joy you just experienced
Being baptized in orange juice.
And it’s not dignified, not proper,
So utterly primitive,
And yet so, so utterly lovely.

Have you ever done that?