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grapefruit

I will never be able to eat a grapefruit again without thinking of you.

I remember when I used to hate that sour flesh

It made the sides of my mouth turn down

on their own,

biting into that bitterness and tasting its wicked juice.

I liked sweet things, the sweeter the better,

piled five packets of refined sugar into my coffee,

(they're tiny, right?)

sprinkled sugar onto my vegetables to make them go down better,

skipped dinner for dessert.

But you couldn't handle the sweet,

you protested every time

I tried to feed you a treat.

It made your stomach turn and your teeth hurt.

 

I couldn't understand it.

but the meals cycled on

like everything else we shared,

and slowly our tastes circled in from

opposite ends of the spectrum.

 

Nowadays,

I'll eat my grapefruit with a bit of sugar,

and you'll take your smoothies with a bit of lime,

And everything we share together will be sweet and sour

all at once,

The most beautiful flavor I've ever had.

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Written by
janet-li
American
Published
Mar 24, 2014
Lines·Words
25·172
Notes

5.22.13

Permission

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