A is for Apple Anomalies

A is for Apple Anomalies

i)
He surprises her with bruised apple
poised center stage on her classroom desk
hopes the forbidden fruit ferments
stirs his classmates into hysterics.

Mirror, mirror, in his hand!

This university student with gelled raven hair.
His mischievous grin, gold-tipped and wide
like an unzipped backpack when he sees her.

ii)
Head tall like a courtroom judge
she rests her brief-case on a table,
starts the lesson with the red vessel
those seeds he has planted in her mind.

If the apple tree falls, who will hear it?

“Braeburn, Cameo, Cortland, Empire
Fuji, Gala, and Ginger Gold
Golden Delicious, even Granny Smith
Please put up your hand when I call your name…
Honeycrisp, Idared, Jonagold
Jonathon, McIntosh, Red Delicious
Roma Beauty, are you here?”

Like row call….alphabetical, classified.

She challenges him. “Think again, outside the core,
beyond the pectin, boron and outer skin.
Did William Tell shoot the arrow? Did Eve drop…
the polished apple into Newton’s lap?”