Clementines by the Sea

by Stephanie Gutierrez

A basket of clementines 

slipped from the sky

Bitten fruit gently laid open – bared

freely prepared to share 

Fingernails grip into sweet flesh 

dripping juices divine 

Jagged teeth marks align 

on the curve of the fruit’s spine 

Hear the seagulls squeal 

picking at tossed citrus skin 

For the sand yearns to conceal 

the precious clementine peels 

Submerged in salted sea 

bathed – raw – clean 

We split another clementine 

yet coarse sand clings 

Onto legs of swimming lovers 

bathing in sirens’ wallow

Where small ripples sing the

echoes of splintered heartstrings 

Flooding ponds – quicksand swallows

pearls and seaweed stalks entwined All but

buried in surging sea.

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