Anna Buynova - Lemonade

Russian-American poet Anna Buynova’s poem “Lemonade” is a perfect draught to ease readers into the languid heat of August. Behind a simple narrative of a parent teaching their young son about lemons, Anna has layered the beautiful and fragrant complexities hidden “below the skin” of people themselves, and the tendency of people toward the comfort and artificial superficiality of sweetness and blandness.

Lemonade

Lemon wedges in water
juice sacks translucent
like skin
taut, yet bursting when pierced.

I hand half a lemon to my son
he pokes its flesh with his tongue
and jerks back, eyes wide
at a thing so violently unsweet.

My wrists are as salty and smooth
as smoked salmon.
And the veins underneath?
Do they taste of olives or mustard?
Does anyone know?

Do you eat lemons? my son asks.
I add them to water, they make it fragrant.
He sips from my glass –
Fragrant, but sour!

Sour, dear, is better than bland
and often nicer than sweet.
Sour is what’s below the skin
beyond sugary words or blank faces.
But we’re afraid –
we want lemonade.

Anna Buynova

Anna Buynova is an emerging Russian-American writer whose work has been recently published in the Beyond Words literary magazine. She currently lives in Thailand with her husband and two young sons.