Winter Harvest
of tangerines and navel oranges.
Two dozen or so
smiling suns on the breakfast table
like a Cézanne: vibrant
study in sacred spheres of nature.
Of sugar.
Ghost of tall grasses; deep roots
of intense labor. Rum’s father,
bearer of dark histories.
Of water.
Gift of clouds. Source of rivers
and fountains. Dissolver of bitterness.
Sometime granter of wishes.
Of lemon zest.
Rind with alarm clock flavor.
Child of golden pollen and white petals;
dispeller of maladies.
On a dull January day Back East,
numbing cold, I
slice and reveal inner
peel’s edge, pulpy flesh:
bounty cultivated by Iberian friars
in New World mission groves;
squeeze to yield sticky juice
of trade routes and Andalusian palaces’
verdant gardens; collect in a pitcher;
cradle the lemons
as I grate the rind, release citron aroma and
Arabic etymologies; combine with the nectar.
Clear, shapeshifting
water brims the pot.
It simmers, then rolls,
growing warmer. I
scoop pale crystals,
let them cascade: hush
of breeze in the cane
as they meet water. Now
bubbling like the Pacific shoreline
when waves recede, I witness
transformation as I stir and
take this sweet brew
from the flame. Add the bright juice;
again stirring, I
pour the mix into a chilled bowl and
freeze in the ice box.
Time slows. Hours.
Anticipation grows.
Seduced by fruit, I
open the door,
dig in my spoon and
the sorbet’s tang ripples through me as
California winters blossom
on my tongue—those mornings after rain
when the air rings like a bell,
like a call to prayer,
and my soul lifts to
the sheltering mountains.
Catherine Fletcher is a Virginia-based writer. Recent work has appeared in The Broadkill Review, The Inflectionist Review, New World Writing, and the concert series Concept Lab. She was a Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellow (2022) and a Creature Conserve Mentee (2022-23). She serves on the Poetry Society of Virginia’s Literary Advisory Board and Seven Cities Writers Project’s Board of Directors. Previously she was Director of Poetry Programs for the New York-based City Lore and Managing Director of the Los Angeles-based Ghost Road Company.
of tangerines and navel oranges.
Two dozen or so
smiling suns on the breakfast table
like a Cézanne: vibrant
study in sacred spheres of nature.
Of sugar.
Ghost of tall grasses; deep roots
of intense labor. Rum’s father,
bearer of dark histories.
Of water.
Gift of clouds. Source of rivers
and fountains. Dissolver of bitterness.
Sometime granter of wishes.
Of lemon zest.
Rind with alarm clock flavor.
Child of golden pollen and white petals;
dispeller of maladies.
On a dull January day Back East,
numbing cold, I
slice and reveal inner
peel’s edge, pulpy flesh:
bounty cultivated by Iberian friars
in New World mission groves;
squeeze to yield sticky juice
of trade routes and Andalusian palaces’
verdant gardens; collect in a pitcher;
cradle the lemons
as I grate the rind, release citron aroma and
Arabic etymologies; combine with the nectar.
Clear, shapeshifting
water brims the pot.
It simmers, then rolls,
growing warmer. I
scoop pale crystals,
let them cascade: hush
of breeze in the cane
as they meet water. Now
bubbling like the Pacific shoreline
when waves recede, I witness
transformation as I stir and
take this sweet brew
from the flame. Add the bright juice;
again stirring, I
pour the mix into a chilled bowl and
freeze in the ice box.
Time slows. Hours.
Anticipation grows.
Seduced by fruit, I
open the door,
dig in my spoon and
the sorbet’s tang ripples through me as
California winters blossom
on my tongue—those mornings after rain
when the air rings like a bell,
like a call to prayer,
and my soul lifts to
the sheltering mountains.
Catherine Fletcher is a Virginia-based writer. Recent work has appeared in The Broadkill Review, The Inflectionist Review, New World Writing, and the concert series Concept Lab. She was a Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellow (2022) and a Creature Conserve Mentee (2022-23). She serves on the Poetry Society of Virginia’s Literary Advisory Board and Seven Cities Writers Project’s Board of Directors. Previously she was Director of Poetry Programs for the New York-based City Lore and Managing Director of the Los Angeles-based Ghost Road Company.
