FRANCINE EATS ORANGES - THE BOOK

James Michael Taylor

FRANCINE EATS ORANGES
Adapted from a poem by
Shannon Elizabeth Hardwick
(http://shannonhardwickpoetry.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/francine-creates-her-story-as-if-asked-to-author-her-own-birth/)
© 2013 Shannon Elizabeth Hardwick

Francine eats oranges and swims in the
river that runs by her father’s house.
Francine says her memories are stones,
some are heavy, some shine in the
light of the plow.
They fill up her pockets.
They threaten to bury her
if we jumped in the river right now
Francine eats oranges and swims in the
river that runs by her father’s house.
Francine plows the bones of her mother
alone and writes in her suffering.
“I want an orange grove, dear Father,” she sings
as she teases a fish with her string
Francine eats oranges like they are herself
after a swim in the rain
Francine plows the bones of her mother alone and writes in her suffering

Francine…