Apple Day

 

 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

 MOONLIT APPLES

At the top of the house the apples are laid in rows,

And the skylight lets the moonlight in, and those

Apples are deep-sea apples of green. There goes

A cloud on the moon in the autumn night.


A mouse in the wainscot scratches, and scratches, and then

There is no sound at the top of the house of men

Or mice; and the cloud is blown, and the moon again

Dapples the apples with deep-sea light.


They are lying in rows there, under the gloomy beams;

On the sagging floor; they gather the silver streams

Out of the moon, those moonlit apples of dreams,

And quiet is the steep stair under.


In the corridors under there is nothing but sleep.

And stiller than ever on orchard boughs they keep

Tryst with the moon, and deep is the silence, deep

On moon-washed apples of wonder. 

 

Today is Apple Day, so I wonder how you are going to celebrate it? Maybe eat apple crumble for your tea, or perhaps have a game of apple-bobbing with the children? If you've nothing planned you can simply read and enjoy John Drinkwater's rather mystical poem above, or listen to "Apple Day" performed at Scrag End Folk Club.

 

Writing Prompts:

• Did you enjoy apple-bobbing as a child? Write about your memory.
• Spend a few mindful moments with an apple from your fruit bowl. Look at it, smell it, bite into it and taste it, then write about it.
• How many associations can you think of to do with apples - songs, poems, sayings. Write down as many as you can in three minutes.
• Read the poem above then imagine yourself observing these apples in this quiet, still house and describe what happens next.