Well done

Teesta S

The best way to eat an orange
is all the way in.
Sink your teeth into a slice and ravage the fibers standing in your way.

Sweet, sweet birds cackling behind your head,
their words seeds
considered for a moment
with the tongue
        smooth on the sides like honey-glazed voices,
        ridges around the edge,
        a moat of succulent, previously
        undiscovered juice.
So you put down your flag and call it a discovery—
but spit it out subsequently.

You don’t want to grow an orange tree on your lungs, do you?

Swallow the rest of the bite
and get teeth prepared for another stab at it.

There is still much to take,
so dig in and splash the
juice a little bit everywhere.

Pieces of skin are
ground on your teeth, gnashed and gashed.
With sticky fingers,
you know that you have
done it right.

Teesta S is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania pursuing a Bachelors in Biochemistry. She writes both poetry and prose and has had work published in MOBIUS: GRHS literary magazine, The Case Reserve Review, and The Street Light Press. Additionally, she published her first collection of poetry and prose, Delta, in 2018. Two of her biggest inspirations are the natural world and her heritage, which serve as the roots of her personal philosophy and views on life, love, and society. She hopes to publish a novel in the future.