The toaster oven.

 

I'm angry at my friend

for leaving me in such a

predicament:

He told me his toaster oven

was on the fritz,

so I offered to fix it for him

free of charge.

Not that I know anything about

toaster ovens

or wiring or mechanics.

I just wanted to be a big shot.

So he brought it over in his

car and left it with me.

That was a month ago.

It's been sitting in the basement

ever since then.

I'm afraid to touch it,

cuz it might have some 

kind of residual electrical

storage thingy inside it

that will kill me if I mess with it.

I guess I'll just buy him

a new one and say I not

only fixed it but cleaned it

up as well.

Being angry at my friend

for putting me to such an expense,

I went to the park to sit by

the broken fountain.

It's cracked and full of dust

and clinkers.

The dust is silvery and moves

in strange troubling waves

even when there's no wind.

No one comes there, so I

always have the place to myself.

I sat and debated with myself about

the toaster oven. 

If I bought a new one

I'd have to put it on my 

credit card.

And Christmas is coming.

It'll mess up my budget for

gift giving.

Well, my friend's married --

so if I give him a new toaster

it's like I'm giving both him

and his wife a present, 

so I won't have to buy her

one at all. So in the long run

I'm saving money, saving face,

and maybe I'll meet a cute masked

clerk at Walmart, we'll fall in love,

I'll take her to Kankakee in the

fall to see the leaves turn,

and at our wedding we'll laugh

merrily at all the toaster ovens

we're given.