Oranges and True Wealth - The Boy Who Sells Sweet Oranges

I have really been enjoying the oranges from the tree in our front yard this year. Mom and dad have worked very hard to plant over 20 trees around the house. Some of these trees have a lot of fruit - like apricot, apples, peaches and asian pear. I like most of these fruits, but Oranges are definitely my favorite. And these are really like tangerines, so the peel comes off with the bear hands and you can eat them right off the tree. This particular variety does not have much seeds in the fruit; one of many reasons to love it. Enjoying the fruits of my parents' labor these winter afternoons makes me feel very rich.  Love is the true wealth, isn't it. Oranges and true wealth reminds me of this poem I read once - its a translation of a poem by Alicia Cadilla -

The Boy Who Sells Sweet Oranges

The boy who sells sweet oranges

Is rich with an abundance

Which nothing can exhaust

The boy who sells sweet oranges

In his patched clothes

Has maps of a world

Unknown to other map-makers

The boy who sells sweet oranges

Carries a bittersweet gold mine

In his basket

The rich children seeing him

From their high balconies

Think it funny that he is happy

With no shoes on

They have no idea that his clothes

Are maps of a world

Unknown to other map-makers

And that there hangs from his arm

A bittersweet gold mine

Given him by the mountain

Alicia Cadilla (Puerto Rico)

translated by H. R. Hays