Oranges

Citrus fruit is extremely inconsistent right now.
Not as bad as in February.
One week I eat oranges
and there is juice,
there is sweetness,
there is vitality.
The next they are hopelessly
flavorless messes
with tough skins
which are bitter,
and require washing.
There is still taste
(unlike in February)
but a deft hand is required
to coax their sweetness from them.
I have gorged myself on oranges
until they’ve lost their sweetness
and are wickedly bruised.
I am alive
off the juice and fleshy segments
I’ve stolen from them,
while the thick skin and pith
which protected their sweetness
lay broken on a crumpled napkin
close to my hands.