an orange book

it's fine book,
this book on oranges.
a good read,
culled from
the new Yorker
magazine.
how they came from
asia, across
the great sea.
how Columbus
brought them to
the new world.
every fact
and nuance
of what makes an
orange and orange
is in there.
page after page.
the trees,
the fields, the story
of orange concentrate.
how the seeds
of a citrus fruit
are perverse, in
choosing what
they'll be.
a grapefruit, a lemon,
or an orange,
nothing is for
certain as the dirt
covers up any type
of seed.
blood red, Valencia.
pulp or
no pulp. it makes
you want a glass
by books end.
cold and on ice.
but with a healthy
splash of
vodka, to help
you sleep.