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.