Tangerines and Alcoholism by Labanya Dey | One Poem Only
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Tangerines and Alcoholism
Labanya Dey
My mother peels tangerines
Carefully scaling the orange flesh
Until her nails dig into the sour crevices
Of the orange ball
The juices drip between her nails and fingertips
As she puts them on a plate
On a bright afternoon
As she waits for them to be savoured
Appreciated with the delicate eyes she yearns for.
She sits by the table, nails scratching through the skin
The sweet juices bubble through her veins
She sits and waits
Where the threshold loses its colour and the window…
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