The Orange

The Orange

A Poem by Delmar Cooper

The Orange

The Jaffa oranges are in

But you must buy the crate

You must take your chances

 Some years so sweet

Winter weeps at the memory

Some years astringent tears

I will find a friend

Gamble, and split a crate

Sweet or tart

It is no matter to the grocer

© 2014 Delmar Cooper


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I love this wonderful poem and the title drew me in to read it because when I was growing up in Ireland, we looked forward to the arrival each year of Jaffa oranges which came wrapped in a special paper in a timber crate. They were the juiciest, sweetest oranges of all and with a beautiful flavour not found in any other orange. I haven't seen them in a very long time in Ireland in recent years, sadly. A wonderful idea to buy the crate and half the oranges with a friend! I would very gladly halve my crate with you if I lived near you, dear Delmar. I love this poem, so charmingly inked and Thank you! for the trip through reading your poem back to yesteryear where sweet memories of Jaffa oranges still linger. Lovely work! Thank you for sharing...

Posted 5 Months Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

5 Months Ago

Thanks for your gracious comment. I have only seen them in the small wooden crates. I worked for a.. read more
Marie

5 Months Ago

How lovely wo work at a produce store, Delmar. I can only imagine the assortment of produce which yo.. read more



Reviews

"Art is vice. You don't wed it. You rape it", Edgar Degas.

perhaps what is meant is that oranges can by supplanted with any intussusception or any other drawing in of something from without. Some people walk into the casino with 200 dollars and walk out broke....then the old lady is wheeled in, in a wheelchair with a roll of dimes and leaves with 2,000. Yet Chance can result in a love affair but it never turns into intuition. nicely written....dana

Posted 4 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

4 Years Ago

Thank you for reading and favoring me with "intussusception". Much better than a bouquet or a bunc.. read more
Honestly, when I think of oranges, it isn't the flavor. I envision the sensation of my fingernail slicing into the peel, and that burst of aromatic acid that follows. It is, as you say, a gamble on how succulent the fruit is. But fortunately I take a private pleasure in marring the skin and letting it tease the senses, which seems a far more consistent experience. Hopefully this doesn't translate into the metaphors this poem likewise teases.

Posted 4 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

4 Years Ago

Thanks for reading and for your comment. The scent and spraying accompanying a flaying - not to be .. read more
love the analogy ... hook of a title "The Orange" ... i have eaten millions and have several different ways to do it ... i would never buy by the crate .. not even by the bag .. it is too risky for my love of the sweet oranges .. naval to be specific :)) the sadness i feel has been tempered with time and experience ... being alone is much different than feeling lonely ... for me there is a bit of both in this ... i love the closing .. take the risk ... the indifference of the grocer/life is stunning .. nicely crafted my friend ... truly. i am running so many memories sparked by "The Orange" ... well done says i!
E.

Posted 4 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

4 Years Ago

Thank you for reading, commenting and not taking me to task for the gaspy shortness of this offering.. read more
Einstein Noodle

4 Years Ago

what a treat ... its the simple things in life eh!? :)
This is life, is it not? No guarantees, but the hope is there for a fabulous outcome. It works just like that with women, too. When aboard ship in the Mediterranean, we were supplied with fresh fruit that was mostly heavenly, especially the blood oranges. Never have I since tasted any that were as good. A good poem you've got here, filling my mind with thoughts and images. Hmm. I wonder how I could have split a crate of Cynthia with someone.

Posted 4 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

4 Years Ago

There are just some things you don't share. Thanks for your comments and for just reading and letti.. read more


I really do like this Delmar ... most original and of course, every word is bloomin true .... My grandparents were greengrocers years ago .. but that aint why I like your words .. not keen on jaffa oranges tho

:)



Posted 4 Years Ago


They can be so sweet, but then again. You pay your money and you take your chances.
Take care and be safe - Dave

Posted 4 Years Ago


The gamble, the random. Or what may be. Nice poem by you.

Posted 4 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

4 Years Ago

I am happy that you read this and gratified that you responded. Much obliged.
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Ash
I've always thought of writing poems about random stuff in life but something never seems to work ( I would never think of writing a poem about oranges :D )
Here the line "Sweet or tart" makes me to remember Forrest Gump's famous quote about chocolates.
This poem is breathtakingly simple and elegant at the same time.


Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

6 Years Ago

Thank you for reading and commenting
This is such a wonderful poem :-) To me, this poem speaks about life.

Yari

Posted 6 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Delmar Cooper

6 Years Ago

Thank you for reading and your gracious comment.
It is an investment, not on the results, but rather the experience. New peel leading into a new test, a new breath of possibility.

No, the grocer never cares. Theirs is the stagnant life, based on the need of the buyer; never the experience.

Lovely write Mr Cooper.

Posted 9 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.


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Added on June 27, 2014
Last Updated on June 27, 2014

Author

Delmar Cooper
Delmar Cooper

Trussville, AL



About
I write- a little. I don't write to reinvent the wheel, or discover fire. I just drag along from sentence to sentence hoping for a spark. more..

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