Last night the apple
trees shook and gave each lettuce a heart
Six hard red apples
broke through the greenhouse glass and
Landed in the middle
of those ever-so-slightly green leaves
That seem no mix of
seeds and soil but of pastels and light and
Chalk x’s mark our
oaks that are supposed to be cut down
I’ve seen the
neighbors frown when they look over the fence
And see our espalier
pear trees bowing out of shape I did like that
They looked like
candelabras against the wall but what’s the sense
In swooning over
pruning I said as much to Mrs. Jones and I swear
She threw her cane at
me and walked off down the street without
It has always puzzled
me that people coo over bonsai trees when
You can squint your
eyes and shrink anything without much of
A struggle ensued
with some starlings and the strawberry nets
So after untangling
the two I took the nets off and watched birds
With red beaks fly by
all morning at the window I reread your letter
About how the castles
you flew over made crenellated shadows on
The water in the
rainbarrel has overflowed and made a small swamp
I think the potatoes
might turn out slightly damp don’t worry
If there is no fog on
the day you come home I will build a bonfire
So the smoke will
make the cedars look the way you like them
To close I’m sorry
there won’t be any salad and I love you
Matthea Harvey
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