An apple is not a story.
Its ripeness holds the weight,
Tipping juicy balances with time,
Forbidden to be consumed in one sitting,
Rather to be tasted, line by line.
She salivates as she nibbles\
Crisp, tart words,
Her curiosity, vast and unquenchable.
Mystery rests in this pale delicate flesh,
For an apple is more than a story,
A primly wrapped promise, a ruse, a guise,
Concealing secrets of the soil that sustains it
And seeds buried for doubting tongues,
Coming to life for those
Not afraid of seeing.
Glutted with the ripe flesh,
Wasps murmur in the grass,
Earth-bound with drunkenness,
Heedless of the roaring blade.
She steps carefully over
The circle of bodies and sees
Resurrection waiting in the trees
As bright-green leaves change rays of sun
To nectar-filled flowers that will become
Crimson harbingers of joy
And foretellers of truths.
© Edward Belfar, 2013
Edward Belfar, author of the short-story collection Wanderers, published in 2012 by Stephen F. Austin State University Press, is a Long Island native who now lives with his wife in Maryland and works as a writer and editor. His fiction has appeared in Shenandoah, Tampa Review,Confrontation, Natural Bridge, and numerous other publications. His short story “Errors” was chosen as the winning entry in the Sport Literature Association’s 2008 fiction competition. His web site is http://www.edwardbelfar.com/
