Walter Jones's Orchard
Pratt, Charles W.
Walter Jones's Orchard To pick your orchard, you should have three things: First, a good ladder; second, a bag that hangs Around your neck, its bottom a trap door Latched by a cord that when...
...Jones (Little, quick, 70 maybe, living alone...
...A clever way to use The trees he did have...
...The farm was small...
...I saw no apple trees, Though plenty of pines...
...second, a bag that hangs Around your neck, its bottom a trap door Latched by a cord that when unhooked lets pour The apples bruiseless into third, your boxes...
...Charles W. Pratt Commonweal 12 November 9, 2001...
...Maybe his secret aim Was to leave his soul in wood...
...For his widow to sell...
...No nail pulled, no side or bottom burst To dump its load of Fancies in the dirt...
...Where, I wondered, As I wrote the check, was Walter Jones's orchard...
...Was Walter Jones surprised Like me by the expected—or simply wise Enough to consider boxes the prudent way To start an orchard...
...And now each fall when all the orchard's picked My cooler's packed with Walter Jones's boxes...
...Walter Jones had built his boxes well...
...Walter, she told me, nailed together three hundred From rough pine boards one year, and then he died, Leaving them stacked in the barn...
...Out of boxes with half the apples to pick I drove two hours north to load a truck With the unused Eastern Standards of Mrs...
...That fall, however, surprised by the expected (For hadn't I in May admired the airy Smother of blossoms, sensed everywhere The tingle of bees after pollen, in August propped Branches too weak to carry the promised crop...
Vol. 128 • November 2001 • No. 19
