The Tiny Citrus (Kumquat)

Lyrics

[Intro]
Little orange globe, from far away.
Robert Fortune brought you in 1846.

[Verse 1]
I hold you in my palm, kumquat,
small as a marble from the garden path.
Your skin is bumpy, like the sea wall after rain.
They say eat you whole, rind and all.
No peeling, no knife, just teeth meeting wax.
From Canton gardens to Kew's glass house,
on a ship called Nemesis, through storms.
Twenty-two degrees inside, while London freezes at five.

[Chorus]
Bite down, sweet outside bursts first,
then the tart rush, like a hidden joke.
Whole fruit, no waste, golden gem.
Eaten at banquets, centerpiece surprise.
Kumquat, you fool the tongue,
sweet shell, sour heart.

[Verse 2]
Robert wrote in his journal, April 1845,
'Little oval fruit, size of a large grape.'
Palatable, he said, rind and all.
I feel the citrus tang on my fingers,
mixed with earth from the pot.
Pruning shears snip your branches,
for more of you to grow.
In the late afternoon light, four PM,
blossoms smell floral and sharp.

[Bridge]
Why hide the bitter in sweet?
Like words we say without knowing.
Fortune to the Society, November letter,
'Curious little citrus.'
Unnamed farmers in China knew you first.
Their hands planted the seeds.

[Chorus]
Bite down, sweet outside bursts first,
then the tart rush, like a hidden joke.
Whole fruit, no waste, golden gem.
Eaten at banquets, centerpiece surprise.
Kumquat, you fool the tongue,
sweet shell, sour heart.

[Outro]
One more, whole, in my mouth.
From Hong Kong to Point Nemo,
eat it all.