With the sun tripping through the window And the cool wind hot on its heels, I eat oranges, Slowly stripping them naked of their skin Letting the juice trickle down my arms Collect at my elbows, And eventually spill to the sleepy newspaper Lounging across the table. I’m not surprised to see you here this morning, Because you linger with me, Like the scent on my fingertips, After I’ve dug them into the flesh Of a ripe orange. I tease myself with visions of you My own private deity, Imagining you bending over your cup of coffee Letting the steam grace your gracious visage, As you smile philosophy at me, Wink a joke, And let your eyes breathe plain and perfect love. But then the scent of bitter zest, From my oranges, Reels me back in And I’m alone again Watching the juice spread across the newspaper Wishing you were here with me.
What an amazing image you evoked with this one, pure, tangible and such longing throughout, I have now decided that eating oranges may be more pleasurable than any old bowl of sugar!! Thank you for sharing this beautiful vision.....Gem
" Ich hab' es immer gesagt: das Wieb wollte die natur zu ihrem Miesterstucke machen."
Thank you all for your warm replies. It never ceases to amaze me how certain simple things can take on so much life, and bring such memories flooding back. And I'm very glad to hear many of you are fans of my favorite fruit now! =) Thanks again, I really appreciate the replies.
Ah, yes my little chickadee, a zest for life or for oranges can leave a bitter-sweet taste but the scent is always divine. Lovely poem with great imagery.
I can trace my lineage back to King Lear's fool, so it is genetic. Nick
Well, I am little late on this one. And I love oranges, but actually I hate peeling them to eat them. I hate having the juice run down you arm and make not just you hands but you arms, and sleeves all sticky! ::Grrr:: But put your way, I enjoyed it. I love the way your words drew me in and made me feel like I was actually watching you peel your fruit. Good job.
Harv
FOG The fog comes on little cat feet.
It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.
Carl Sandburg
Well, Well, this fire was more funner then proper grammer anyway
Nelly Furtado- Well, Well
The End
Posts: 4454 | Location: Earth, Milky Way | Registered: 11-29-01
Because you linger with me, Like the scent on my fingertips
Wonderful analogy, I loved it!
-Hellsangel
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"I knew you wanted to tell me, in your voice there was something wrong but if you would turn your face away from me, you cannot tell me you're so strong." -Sarah McLachlan (The Path of Thorns (Terms))
As you smile philosophy at me, Wink a joke, And let your eyes breathe plain and perfect love.
My favorite part!!!!!! So sweet, I can picture what you're describing so perfectly!!!!! Wonderful job--this was definately a poem to add to my favorites!!!!!!!
~Katherine~ "We are the people our parents warned us about..."~Jimmy Buffet
Really liked this...the following lines are from Frank O'Hara's "Why I am not a Painter"
But me? One day I am thinking of a color: orange. I write a line about orange. Pretty soon it is a whole page of words, not lines. Then another page. There should be so much more, not of orange, of words, of how terrible orange is and life. Days go by. It is even in prose, I am a real poet. My poem is finished and I haven't mentioned orange yet. It's twelve poems, I call it ORANGES.
Keep it up. Kev
"How do I know when a work is finished? When I am weak and it is strong, the work is finished." - Saul Baizerman
Posts: 92 | Location: weston, fl us | Registered: 02-28-01
i really love this! i'm sorry i didn't see it before..this is wonderful work. lately i have been eating a lot of oranges b/c of soccer tournaments and the moms bring oranges and bananas for snacks "b/c it's good for you" hahaha anyways, i happen to love oranges to and as i was browsing poems on QL i found "The loneliness of oranges" yeah, since i am eating oranges...that got me curious. anyways, i just wanted to say that this is an awesome job you've done. but i agree w/ Harv peeling the orange is rather...uncomfortable..the stickiness gets to me. but i still love all of your poem!! keep it up!!
When the tides of life are against you and the current upsets your boat, don't waste your tears on what might have been, just lie on you back and float.
Posts: 202 | Location: a drink machine in Zimbabwe | Registered: 02-09-02
Just echoing what everyone else has said, Great poem!! My favourite part was: "I tease myself with visions of you My own private deity, Imagining you bending over your cup of coffee Letting the steam grace your gracious visage, As you smile philosophy at me, Wink a joke, And let your eyes breathe plain and perfect love"
Great work!!
beth
"What do you do when all your enemies are friends?" ~Foo Fighters
I have always enjoyed your poetry, even though your posts seem too few and far between...I stumbled upon this one that I missed and it evoked wonderful sensory images! Nicely done!
~~LB~~
"If a man should pick me wildflowers, he would hold my heart forever" J.
Posts: 1926 | Location: somewhere over the rainbow | Registered: 06-30-02
What a marvelous line! Thank you for this poem. I may have misread, but I felt a feeling of sadness, almost aching in the final lines. Beautiful, no matter!
