Caress the peel, claw it
just enough to puncture —
just enough to mist the air
tangerine, to ache the tongue,
to tease the fingers
as if this peel weren’t infinite
layers; as if this peel were
simple as a bathrobe.
We pretend —
but pith hides
beneath fingernails
brought to midnight lips
even after soap, cold water.
Darla Himeles (they/them) is a Philadelphia-based poet and an assistant teaching professor at Widener University. They are the author of the chapbook Flesh Enough (2017) and the poetry collection Cleave (2021), both published by Get Fresh Books. Their poems and essays can be read in Beloit Poetry Journal, Ran Off with the Star Bassoon, Honey Literary, Mid-American Review, and American Poetry Review. For their writing for young people, Darla has been named a Boyds Mills Storytellers Fellow for 2026–2027.
