They burn the flesh all over my mouth,

and I crave the sting.

I digest what’s deleterious

I eat lemons the way I eat oranges  

By Caitlin Spinner

I eat lemons the way I eat oranges 

when I hunger for acerbic tastes.  

I dig my long nail into the lemon skin: 

the color is luminous and fresh. 

My cuticles are paper-thin,  

Hyponychium—the flesh stings with impulse.   

I peel it like an orange, 

picking wet strings of pulp, 

tearing off individual slices,  

arranging them circular on a ceramic plate.  

I eat lemons the way I eat oranges.  

I survive by chance; I live in doubt.   

I chew the slices from the plate—  

They burn the flesh all over my mouth, 

and I crave the sting.  

I digest what is deleterious.  

 A vile taste—   

head-clearing,   

fresh, fruitful:   

a bittersweet rapture.  

I eat lemons the way I eat oranges;  

I cut into myself the way I cut into citrus,  

convinced it’s what I need. 

Blood becomes a thick maroon juice.   

I love the bitterness as if it were sweet, 

I cry but it tastes like a smile, 

I run from sweetness as if it were poison,  

I hurt myself like I know what’s best for me.  

I eat lemons the way I eat oranges—  

I peel slices, pack them in a lunchbox,  

sealed in a Ziploc bag,  

perfect side for a tuna sandwich. 

Lemons have the same amount of vitamin C, 

and the same curvature shape.  

But yellow and agonizingly bitter—  

a quicker erosion of the tooth enamel.  

I eat lemons the way I eat oranges.  

Even though I don’t like lemons. 

About the Author...

Caitlin Spinner is a junior in the Creative Writing Department at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. She is currently the Junior Prose Editor for Élan Literary Magazine. She has previously had her work published in the fourth and fifth editions of [Alternate Route]. She is a member of school clubs including the Literary Arts Honor Society, Spoken Word Club, and Creative Writing Black Art Club. She has also participated in her school's annual showcase Extravaganza in 2025. She believes that her passions—history, politics, and psychology—greatly influence her writing.

About the Artist...

Leo Bowyer is a 12th grade Visual Artist at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. His favorite medium to work with is acrylic paint.