Sometimes a pome

[tamaravining]

Samurai Orange

That flick of the wrist to remove excess water
off of the potato brush you are using
to clean dirt off of the organic orange
you just bought for your lunch
before placing it handle down in the utensil holder
on the drain board

is the same motion used
by samurai to flick blood from their sword
in one fluid motion
as they sheath it after performing
the eighth kata
which is helping a friend
if they need to commit seppuku
by cutting off the head
after their first cut.

I recognize this motion
though it has been 25 years
since I made that flick of the wrist myself.

Is the dark black good earth
embedded in the wrinkles of the twig connected
underside side of the orange
(the top when it was on the tree)
come all the way from South America?
I'm now a digital forensic examiner,
trying to connect with the green
buds of the trees outside my window,
and nature,
just beyond the bird feeder
that isn't seeing much use today. (Needs filling.)

When I was young
playing at cowboys and indians
I knew how to spell sheath
because we would make them
to carry our homemade
arrows
but now rely on a spell checker.

Before I die I will find someone
who understands my wanting
and need
of finding a place
mostly dirt, no grass, maybe some hard packed sand
where I can draw and then dig and then use
the five holes needed to play keeps at marbles
for which I have saved my
purie shooter
all these years and decades;
saved through countless moves and losses
for what I didn't know
until this very moment.

Now the dark clean smell of South American
organic orange
fills my office
and helps me breathe, just for today.

© Tamara Vining 2010