New
iv.
The orange peeler.
Is not working any better than
when your father explained how to use it 37 years ago.
It had maybe just been invented. Maybe he picked it up
at Hardware Hank along with a new 8-piece socket set plus
a brown paper bag of peanuts in the shell.
It would have been just before Christmas.
Of course it worked for your father. He is probably using one
right now. Sitting down to a breakfast of oatmeal.
Black coffee. While you are making a royal mess
of your hands, mouse, desk, sticky scrap
of napkin…
It was not the best stocking stuffer. Unless you’re counting
the ones you still remember.