Oranges

I watched you in awe carefully

from the kitchen table

As mom went out of focus stood in the fridge light

Storing the groceries for the week.

Any worry in my mind was washed away

once you took one carefully into your palm.

It looked so much bigger in your hands

so much brighter than the things she offered.

I’m not sure why they weighed more

than all of the doctor appointments

and school lunches,

but I swallowed the feeling with each slice

and the skin under my nails was your parting gift,

your atonements thoughtful gesture,

what held me over

when you ignored me were too busy

to look me in the eyes,

I’d think about how our teeth are the same.

I’d let it warm me.

Your oranges, would have to do i savored, until

the very last pocket of juice

Slid down my throat

Coating it with a sweet silence.