In the book Going Solo, Roald Dahl wrote about a woman Who refused to eat anything with her bare hands Instead, everything had to be handled with utensils Knife in one hand and fork in another She described the satisfaction of fruit cutting The inexplicable joy at cleanly cleaving peel from flesh Skill precise as a surgeon Cutting it up according to Nature's dotted lines
I tried it on the same fruit Somehow it just didn't feel right Too refined, too silent
Unlike the practised deft peeling with bare fingers Fingernails digging into the fruit, both refusing to compromise Until eventually, the rind gives way and a cut is made And from that same opening, tearing outwards Sounding like strips of velcro are slowly being separated The uneven globe of translucent orange flesh coming naked Its pith shielding you from its full bright glory Pulling it apart by halves, and then quarters, and then tenths Each crescent shaped carpel in its mouth sized perfection Sacs accidentally bursting, fingers sticky with juice