Orange

You know those orange slice smiles?

The ones we'd play with when we were kids?
           And no matter how hard we tried
           We couldn't help but to laugh.
           Because the orange inside
           Was cut into halves.
            And it was all just too funny.
But those memories now
They're all but forgotten
And I'll be laying
In my shirt made of cotton
Made in some sweat shop in Jordan
By children who have never had the feeling
Of that orange slice smile.
                Because they're too busy slaving
                Since we're too concerned with style.
But those children are concerned about their family
While I'm concerned with my next simile
And they're concerned with their next meal
While you're concerned with "what's her deal"
And I'm concerned with how I feel.
                Because I really miss the feeling
                Of the acid of the orange on my teeth
                Eroding away the bad
                That I always held beneath.

I've always been good at hiding things.

And I'm concerned with my smiles
While there are children concerned
With how many miles
They'll need to walk to get water.

And I'll be wearing my cotton shirt
When I know there are children who forgot how to smile
And they don't even notice the hostile
Conditions they still have to live through
                Even though child labor
Has gone out of style.

And these children are concerned
With where it is they'll spend the night
Because some army came through thinking
That they had the right
To go ahead and take their home
Away in a fight
                And I'll be selfishly thinking
                What will take me through the night
                Because the sleep isn't coming
                And the pain is so numbing
                And my heart beat is drumming
                                Because I'm still alive.
But inside I'll be wishing
For the smiles I'm missing
Despite the fact that I have nothing to complain about.
Because I have my next meal
And parents who help me

But those orange slice smiles
I still want to feel
It isn't enough to just see.

And I miss that feeling of the juice on my lips
And the sips and the drips
Of the sweet innocence of it all
But now I'm lying back crying
Wishing you'd catch my sweet fall
                While those children in Jordan
                Will fall to their knees
                And they'll only have
A master to please
                And they'll never see
                This is not how
Life's meant to be.

And they're just concerned about what is for dinner
And you're just concerned about how to be thinner
And I admire them all
Because despite all their hardships
They've lived through it all
And they are still smiling
Though sometimes they fall

And how unfair of you
That you're just concerned about how to be thinner
And sometimes you might just throw out your dinner
When those children in Jordan
Are just begging for food
But I've come to conclude
That they will still smile.
Despite this path that they've walked for miles.

And I can tell I'm just selfish
Since I've just been laying here
In my shirt made of cotton
Made in that sweatshop in Jordan
Wishing that
I hadn't forgotten
How to wear
My orange slice smile.