Mysterious Juice

 Do you ever think about

Mystery?

A mystery

That has no…

There’s juice

On the counter

And

The juice wasn’t there

A second ago

I know it wasn’t

I live alone

I’m in my right mind

I didn’t put it there

And I don’t drink juice

But there’s juice

On the counter

Could it be a ghost?

I suppose

It could be

But what sort of ghost

Goes to the store

Buys orange juice

And sets it on a counter

Just to unsettle somebody?

I should mention

That while it is orange juice

It’s in an apple juice

Container

So that makes it

Even more of a mystery

All the cups

They were in the dishwasher

The glasses too

But not the mugs

I woke up

And everything was fine

I ran down to Pete’s

To get my coffee

And when I came back

That’s how it was

What do you make of that?

I don’t think there’s an answer

Not when a person

Isn’t upset by something

Because then

You can’t claim

There was some intent to it all

If years and years went by

And nothing led to the day

When the juice was there

Then what could you say

About that day?

But of course

There’d be other days

With other mysteries

And I suppose a person

Could spend their whole life

Trying to find the answers

To small mysteries

That plague

Their everyday life

I choose not to do that

I...I simply have other things

Which I feel

Are a better use

Of my time

Let a mystery

Be a mystery

I emptied the juice

In the sink

Because I wasn’t

Going to drink it

Not because it’s mysterious

But because I don’t like juice

As I said

I emptied it out

Sad to see a waste of juice

But not much to do be done about it

I took the cups

And the glasses

Out of the dishwasher

And put them away

I put the mugs in the dishwasher

Because I didn’t want them

To stay uncleaned

When all its brothers and sisters

Had just gotten a fresh wash

After that, I went about my day

Never had any problems

With juice after that

But I still don’t drink it

Don’t think I ever will either

But I wasn’t bothered by it

A lot more to be bothered by

In this world

Than a carton of mystery

Sitting on your counter

Daring you to figure out

Why it’s there