Oranges

by Derek Abdekalimi

I was supposed to go to the baseball game, but I didn’t
I stayed home and ate oranges.
The juice dripped down my lips and off my chin,
so I washed my face, after I ate five or six.

I was supposed to pay my taxes, but I decided not to
and instead spent my money on a big vacation in Florida.
I returned home with a big box of blood-red oranges,
to find that my house was repossessed by the IRS.

I sat in front of my house and ate some oranges,
instead of giving them to my friends, as I was supposed to.
There was no use giving them to someone else
when I have no shelter in which to sleep.

So it was the time for the auction of my house
and instead of showing up and trying to get it back,
I let them have it.

(It needed to be fixed anyway).