Break Off My Fingers & Grate Them!
Go ahead and try. I won’t cry.
Published in
2 min readDec 16, 2021
Life is not easy when you’re a citrus fruit
only looking like a lemon
with long, lithe finger-like fragments
that you must break off & grate.
A fragrant, fruitless fruit
with a bright yellow appearance,
you must grate my fingers & turn
my rind into salad dressings, baked goods, & drinks.
When you see my curly fingers
you might think that I’m a freak,
but they show my ripeness & readiness
to greet the world.
As you look at my lemony
open & closed-fingered figure,
you will appreciate that I bring good luck in China
and good fortune in Japan.
As you realize that I resemble
a hand-position for prayer,
you will understand
why my name is Buddha’s hand.
Yet, you will still break off
my fingers & grate them,
but I promise you.
I will not cry. I will not cry.
