I am offering you

I am offering you

This plum, yes, the sticker is still on but I have rinsed it. I’ve learned when you pull the stickers off,

you bruise the skin, sometimes plucking it straight from the fruit. But I’m still offering you this plum, no strings attached but please

make sure the pit doesn’t go in the sink. It will ruin the disposal.

I would’ve gone to the park, offered them to the homeless but I didn’t want to get the car out of the garage,

the box is too heavy to carry. So,

I offer it to you. I know we cannot eat three dozen plums in the box. But I don’t know what to do.

They are so juicy and sweet maybe I could can them. I can’t freeze them, the freezer is full. I hate side-by-side refrigerators. There’s just not enough room.

What am I to do with all of this food? “You must take the whole box.”They say. But what if I don’t want the whole box? I’m only a one person house.

Will I lose weight if I eat 10 pounds of nectarines, 15 pounds of grapes, and 20

pounds of plums?

Of course, because I will have diarrhea

from the food they offer to save me from poverty. And what of you?

Will you take this plum that I am offering?


*Published in Texas Bards Poetry Anthology, 2024

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