(on a 2 day sponsored fast for charity)
I bought a bag of tangerines
for the time of breaking the fast –
they sat, glowing orange
temptation in the fruit bowl.
The first day I struggled
to remain normal, distracted
by ugly rumbles in my stomach –
signs of a deep hunger
that on the second day
gave way to dizzy light headedness,
an ability to float
above the mundane everyday.
On the forty ninth hour
I held a tangerine, its scent
spicing the air; how strangely
difficult it was to eat
to deny myself my entry
into that other existence
I had almost started
to glimpse.
_________________
Previously published as part of Gabrielle Bryden's Citrus Fiesta.
Meanwhile I've posted another poem on my Shapeshifting Green blog, you can read it here.
2 comments:
Well done you! I wouldn't have been able to manage it!
Nice writing. I first started fasting after reading "Tobacco Road" and realizing I had never come close enough to hunger that I would fight for a turnip
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