{"id":117,"date":"2025-10-23T23:15:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T23:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/?page_id=117"},"modified":"2025-11-07T22:37:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T22:37:25","slug":"terry-trowbridge","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/poetry\/terry-trowbridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Anatomy of the Lemon: Endocarp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Terry Trowbridge<\/span><\/p>\n

The lemon has been peeled.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sections are still intact in their ovoid seed ovary shape.<\/span><\/p>\n

They are held together, and stuck together, by endocarp.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Translucent but not entirely transparent skin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beneath the white thickness of mesocarp,<\/span><\/p>\n

the endocarp appears powdered with snow, or flour.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between the sections, the endocarp is clear insect wings,<\/span><\/p>\n

shaped like waning moon, pressed over little vesicles of juice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Endocarp rarely touches seeds.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some unsolved mysteries of the lemon\u2019s endocarp:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why wasn\u2019t this the first paper?<\/span><\/p>\n

Writing could have been such small notation,<\/span><\/p>\n

perfect for passing secrets between students,<\/span><\/p>\n

do you like me yes no maybe and then eat before it is confiscated<\/span><\/p>\n

the lemon\u2019s sourness endowing bad news,<\/span><\/p>\n

the lemon\u2019s cleanliness accenting good news.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why didn\u2019t the lemon evolve insect wings?<\/span><\/p>\n

A path not-taken by the maple keys that helicopter groundward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each lemon section could have flown,<\/span><\/p>\n

powered by acidic arteries inside the yellow battery berry.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why didn\u2019t lemons develop more sweetness?<\/span><\/p>\n

Powdered sugars could have accumulated between endocarp and mesocarp.<\/span><\/p>\n

A baker\u2019s dream fruit.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why does the waning moon only turn yellow with certain clouds?<\/span><\/p>\n

As though the rain is made of lemon juice.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the surface of the moon is white like the endocarp\u2019s titanium white.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One spiritual mystery of the lemon endocarp:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The membrane that covers each section as its own separate slice<\/span><\/p>\n

is also surface that sticks the sections together, united as one fruit.<\/span><\/p>\n

So perfect an example of community communion.<\/span><\/p>\n

No need for metaphors, nor practice, nor theology, nor chapels.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lemon endocarp clasps in prayer, without needing to pray.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nTerry Trowbridge The lemon has been peeled. The sections are still intact in their ovoid seed ovary shape. They are…\n<\/div>\n
Continue reading “Anatomy of the Lemon: Endocarp”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"parent":322,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-117","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/117\/revisions\/190"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/21-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}