my adoptive father ate lemons raw, skin and all

he was the only person i ever met to do this

he had no argument with bitter, sugarless fruit

and the bitter lemon had no argument with him

i never saw him eat any other fruit but the lemon

he sucked and scrunched at the lemon like a deflating ball

with a mouth of toothless gums, top and bottom

watching this exquisite act made me squirm

and my own mouth filled with sour reaction

i heard the sour fruit complain like a small wild bird

juice dripping from his toothless mouth as if it had no end