The Apple Orchard

🍎 ⊹ ࣪ ˖🍃

The apple orchard in my backyard was my favorite place

I liked remembering the way it felt 

When the apples plopped on my head

One, two, three, seven of them 

I was too young to know why they did

I assumed they were playing with me

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

I sat down with my stockings soiled in mud and dirt

From searching the grounds and racing with my brother

To find the biggest, reddest, juiciest apple

The first person to find the better apple gets the first slice

First slice of apple pie 

A tradition to share with my family the bountiful resource

The abundance of apples at our feet 

He would search high and I searched low 

But he didn’t know that the best apples

Have already fallen

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

But when the buttons couldn’t be sewn back into my favorite flannel 

I began climbing the trees on my own

Even though my father said not to

I thought the apples would look different 

Maybe I would find a blue one when I reach the top

Now only my diary knows I saw that the apples were spoiled 

Browned by the oxidation and the nasty worms feeding off it 

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

I never told anyone that I climbed the trees 

But I couldn’t help the shame that flushed my cheeks 

When my mother watched me decline a cup of cider 

Even though I waited every winter and spring 

Impatiently watching the trees outside my backyard

Making sure to promptly report to my parents 

That the Jonathan apples were finally in bloom

༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

And the McIntosh were always easy to crush

But knowing even the great gala apples had fallen victim 

It hurt 

The apple cider didn’t taste so sweet 

Wasn’t so tart anymore 

If anything, it felt as if someone had squeezed lemons 

In my favorite drink

In my favorite pie 

In my life 

I always hated lemons

༘⋆🍎🥧💭 ⋆˙