Yüksel taught us the right way
to eat the Turkish portakal.
You do it slowly, talking with friends,
attentive to the task.
I saw that preparation
can be an aspect of taste,
as time may often be of place,
and I memorized the rule:
Slice off the stem,
work your knife in carefully
under the pebbled skin.
Score it in six vertical lines.
An orange can last all evening
with a glass of sweetened tea,
talk melding with the fruit,
the stacked elliptical peel.
You climb the honey-scented hills
of Izmir or Mersin,
build a small white fortress
from the wrinkled seeds.
Art credit: "Orange with Leaf," oil on hardboard, painting by Faith Te.
