so said mr. ackenheil

i got a pair of socks,

a box of corn flakes,

and an orange,

and that's the way it was.

there were no questions

to be asked.

you got what you got

and you liked it,

whether or not you did.

if you didn't get

what you thought

you were going to get,

you got what you never

thought you'd get,

which is to say

whatever it is you got.

 

wiping his nose with a kerchief,

mr. ackenheil returned to his coffee.