you’ve got thick skin
difficult to peel off
glued to your insides
a wrong move
and a limb is torn
into two
but if I’m nice
smooth out the knots
on your shoulders
your back
let you know
of a kind hand
then you’ll let go
shed your layers
and show me
a tight hug
heads bowed in prayer
the big and small
together-
until they’re not
because I’ll take away
the last of your defense-
your unity-
and bring you to sharp teeth
an eager tongue
hoping to taste
the secrets in your whispers
the sweetness in your love.
Behind the Writing
I consider this piece to be a bit goofy since the idea came to me while I was doing homework with a friend; she had to write an ode to an object for her Spanish class, and I was struck by some spontaneous inspiration to do something similar (and procrastinate on my own work instead). I chose oranges as my muse since I had just eaten one, and didn’t really think through the structure or rhyme pattern as I wrote – only focused on getting the words out. My poems usually have longer lines and more formal stanzas, the opposite of what this piece became, but I had a lot of fun experimenting with the change in style and just letting the inspiration flow.
Helena Piacenti Rodriguez
Writer To Writer Literary Journal 