Ken Smith
Apples Be Damned
On the way to apple picking
with my two granddaughters,
clouds of sheep in a meadow,
feral cats crown the roof of a derelict barn,
NO TURN ON RED…STOP…YIELD…
TAKE ONLY TWO BAGS...NO SMOKING
NO EATING APPLES...NO CLIMBING...
I carefully recite the letters and words.
No teaching opportunity missed.
In an orchard of contorted trees
burdened with golden apples everywhere,
I award each a golden apple
and begin the story of Paris.
Both drop their apples.
The oldest, 4, seeks
only low climbing branches.
“UP, HANDS FIRST....DOWN, FEET FIRST,”
I drone and boost her up the tree.
She stretches for a higher branch with her
foot.
The youngest, 2, seeks
only fistfuls of pebbles.
She drops them into a metal wagon.
She is her most appreciative audience.
She grins “apples be damned!”
I agree and fill my hands with stones.
My noise is louder and longer.
She removes my stones singly.
Exasperated, she exhales “you’ll never learn.”
She’s right; I’m hopeless.
Page(s) 96
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