Fruit Bowl
By Sarah, Year 12
fruit is a sign of wealth.
a white, porcelain bowl spilling out apples, bananas, oranges and pears
on the countertop like decoration — their family has it together and it
shows.
a full fridge is a sign of wealth. from bottom to top, the cartons of milk, eggs
and frozen meat have more colour — their family has it together and it smells.
a basket of medicine is a sign of health. from vitamins to expensive pills,
sickness is easily painted over with money. their family has it together and
everybody can tell.
in their house, they can get away with anything. bake up some weed and
no one will know because people don’t tell, and if the cops ever come
around, it’s to join them. their family has it together and the money speaks
it all.
a fruit bowl is a sign of wealth. a decoration of food displayed like a
painting because now things are different — where the general public
cannot afford ripe sweetness and the rich can afford to leave out food till
it rots.
and so i see it all, from the home where the mouldy risk is everywhere
and you dare think things are fair?
i’ll tell you not:
because, naive child, the rich eat your labour for dinner
while you starve.
This poem, Fruit Bowl, is an excerpt from orange peelings, a poetry collection written by Sarah Dee in Story Factory’s Year of Poetry program. In this program, young people commit to attending workshops for a year and write their very own poetry collection, which is professionally edited, published and launched into the Sydney literary landscape.