Allan Douglass Coleman

Mandarin Conundrum


Can I say

that except for just one slice

this orange has failed, section by section,

not achieving anything more than a vague, distant

suggestion of flavor, or can I separate out that toothsome

mouthful for some independent praise—or does the fact

that its consumption happened last propose to us

a sequence more than random, and, if so,

should I consider that redemptive

or even triumphant?