Tuesday, August 9, 2011

A Short History of the Apple

From The Book of Men, poems by Dorianne Laux:

The crunch is the thing, a certain joy in crashing through
living tissue, a memory of Neanderthal days.
-- EDWARD BUNYARD The Anatomy of Dessert

Teeth at the skin. Anticipation.
Then flesh. Grain on the tongue.
Eve's knees ground in the dirt
of paradise. Newton watching
gravity happen. The history
of appleas in each starry core,
every papery chamber's bright
bitter seed. Woody stem
an infant tree. William Tell
and his lucky arrow. Orchards
of the Fertile Crescent. Bushels.
Fire Blight. Scab and powdery mildew.
Cedar apple rust. The apple endures.
Born of the wild rose, of crab ancestors.
The first pip raised in Kazakhstan.
Snow White with poison on her lips.
The buried blades of Halloween.
Budding and grafting. John Chapman
in his tin pot hat. Oh Westward
Expansion. Apple pie. American
as. Hard cider. Winter banana.
Melt-in-the-mouth made sweet
by hives of Britain's honeybees:
white man's flies. O eat. O eat.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Absolutely beautiful apples. Ours again are infested with worms, scab and various fungus in spite of regular spraying. Ugh!

Plant Descriptions said...

These apples are looking so yummy and I just want to eat :) your post is very good and informative I really inspired by this and want to appreciate you that you provide us very precious information.
Thank you for sharing with us.