Member-only story
The Apple Orchard in Fall
A Poem of cherished family memories
A man at the gate sat on an old tractor
With a pouch of tobacco in his hand.
Walk the dirt road, he said
Stay on the path
And he spit tobacco juice off to the side
Watch for the bees, and stay on the path…
Fallen apples under the trees, rotting fruit
Feeding frenzied Yellow Jackets among dead leaves.
Josh running here and there
Be careful where you step!
But he stayed on the path…
It is late afternoon, time to go home
Mom and Sis buy pumpkins and apple sauce
At the wood plank table set up
On hay bales in a barn by the road.
The barn smells of rotting apples, juice and jam
Cider, vinegar and apple butter.
A woman scolds her son
As the orchard worker smiles, and takes my money
But does not notice the Yellow Jackets in the air.
“Are you on the mailing list?”
