The Gentle Boy Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The Gentle Boy

This evening the sunset was red and I thought of blood oranges,
sold in shops before Yule. This was long time ago when tropical
fruit was a rarity, like bananas and coconuts. In the shop that sold
sweets and fruit I bought four oranges and two bananas,
the citrus didn´t look like the right thing but I was too shy to
argue. … They were not. But mother peeled them cut them into
pieces and put strawberry jam on top. Mother, when young, was
fearless, next day she went to the shop, spoke her mind and came
home with four blood oranges the shopkeeper had given her in
fear of her lashing, tongue. Remembering this I know being gentle
is good as long as you don´t let people take advantage of you