Tangerines and Alcoholism by Labanya Dey | One Poem Only

A daily reading from One Poem Only—a quiet space for a single poem, read aloud.Tangerines and AlcoholismLabanya DeyMy mother peels tangerines Carefully scaling the orange fleshUntil her nails dig into the sour crevices Of the orange ballThe juices drip between her nails and fingertips As she puts them on a plateOn a bright afternoonAs she waits for them to be savouredAppreciated with the delicate eyes she yearns for.She sits by the table, nails scratching through the skinThe sweet juices bubble through her veins She sits and waits Where the threshold loses its colour and the window panes seem blue She watches the door with careful eyesAt 12:00 when she cleans up her day The corpses of red headed flies with sweetness sticking in their tonguesLay beside the musk amber of leftover liquidSmiling at her - "you couldn't even keep him" So she keeps, her orange peels and her whiskey scent And sunny days with dark afternoonsAnd vibrant smiles with leftover tangerinesDrowned with glistening, golden bubbles of life and laughter Because my mother peels tangerinesWhether seasons meet their end Or the waves meet the earth.More from Labanya Dey ↓@labanyaaa._ on Instagram@yapseshs on SubstackSupport + Stay Connected to OPOIf you’d like to support the show, Substack and Patreon members receive a copy of my book, For My Daughter, along with episodes from the audiobook.Poetry slows us down. Thank you for listening.Mentioned in this episode:Write After with One Poem OnlyWrite After is a way to encourage poets to listen and write, and use National Poetry Month to highlight how listening to poetry makes us better poets. I know I write the best when I’m surrounded by beautiful poetry–it’s part of the reason I created this podcast, and I want to encourage others to share this practice. If you want to join: Listen to a poem from the month of April on One Poem Only, then write your own in response. I will pick one for each day to read in June for a special series: One Poem After 🍎🍏 Submissions close May 15.Write After Submissions Form