Making cider poems

Apple ... There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples, resulting in a range of desired characteristics. Different cultivars are bred for various tastes and uses, including in cooking, fresh eating and cider production. Domestic apples are generally propagated by grafting, although wild apples grow readily from seed.-from Wikipedia

"Up the hill,
Up the hill not 
To the right,
Nor to the left"
We sought the party
Out of sight.

At last familiar truck
With bright kayak
Two bikes
Atop his rake
We made our way
On a perfect Fall day.

I wish there were
Photos to recall the day
The day of ruckus wind
Bending Alders
Chasing wildness
Through stands already topped.

Buckets of apples
Colors of yellow-greens,
Mottled almost marble reds,
Large as a boy's baseball mitt
Nibbled by hunger squirrels
Apples.

Unfettered  wasps
Sought some sweetness
In bags of fruit
They left one sting
We wash, chop, grind, press
Cider makers.

Chattering girls
Women in boots
A farmer in flipflops
City visitors
Island neighbors
Make juice.

At last the final
Apple cleaned
The quarters
Ground and pressed
Pink juice
And apple pie

Made for
Autumntime smiles
Cider in tiny
Glass apple jars,
Empty water jugs
Harvests of the year.


As I sorted through my dreams and waited for the oatmeal to cook I visited Rima Staines and found these words and photographs. Inspired by her autumntime renderings and photographs the scolding dreams lost their sting and so this blog made its way ... up the hill, not right nor left.

And, just for fun, rewound and snipped. A poem can be made twice by taking the tail off each stanza and making cider poems. Try it yourself, with friends, or after a dish of oatmeal or sip of cider.

Harvests of the year
And apple pie
Make juice
Cider makers
Apples
Through stands already topped
On a perfect Fall day
Out of sight.