Ode to a Kumquat

Ralph long jr.

tiny
wonder,
tartness
upsets
until
your soft
carapace
yields its
surprise.
Sweet pith,
bitter flesh,
soothing
reversal
of learned
expectations.
In one bite,
winter flees.

ralph long jr.

Ralph J. Long Jr. has authored two chapbooks, Polaroids at a Yard Sale (Main Street Rag Press, 2021) and A Democracy Divided (Poetry Box, 2018). His work has appeared in the anthologies: Ambrosia: A Conversation About Food and Simpsonistas: Volume 4, and Cloudbank, Common Ground Review, Peregrine, Stoneboat Literary Journal, The Scriblerus, Sisyphus, South 85 Journal, Ursa Minor, Zingara Poetry Review and elsewhere. He lives in Oakland California.

 

 

 

 

 

Sofie Justice