Page 24 - Issue 16

Erica Kushner, Mazkirol - HDNA

i’ve never wanted to kiss the ground so much as
the things that grow out of the ground the trees
the plants the weeds

the delicate kumquats
josh and tzivia combed them from the trees
kept them in a bag

offered me to bite through the
narrow orange skin
speckled like a golf ball

it is the skin that’s sweet, i’m told
not the fruit

they’re unbearable sour
the size of a grape and I can’t get through it
fruit is stronger in eretz yisrael
branches reach out to touch my face

I want to kiss each leaf
let the wood leave its mark on me

in the chaparral I feel compelled.