On Cunningham's Wire Sculpture with Lemons
Cara Dees | Poetry
Gentled now, the lemons dream smooth
in their uterine sweep of steel, damp pips
looped in place, their swift acid
at a loss, shock of pith turned low
to gray. Otherwise they’d roll on
& on, a wayward tumble, juice gnawing rust
through to the lens. This is why the steel
cradles the fruit water- tender, its shadow
thawing just enough to hint to its clutch –
sharp, raw as spring – a future spilling.
Cara Dees is the author of Exorcism Lessons in the Heartland, winner of the Barrow Street Book Prize. She holds a PhD from the University of Cincinnati and an MFA from Vanderbilt University. Her work appears or is forthcoming in publications such as The Atlantic, Best New Poets, The Georgia Review, Harvard Review, The Hudson Review, Ploughshares, and Poetry Daily.