Danni Petrilak
Apples
Published December, 2019 in Wingless Dreamer's Winter Passionate Penholders Anthology
Taking large sticks with baskets and
Thrusting into the branches hoping to
Catch just the right one.
Not too bruised,
Not to scraped,
Not filled with bugs.
Just perfect.
Make sure to shine it on your shirt.
Oh, the things you can do with apples
Eat them right off the tree
Cut them into little bits for recipes
Maybe even mush them into sauce
The options are unlimited,
But there’s one thing that’s constant.
You have to shine them on your shirt.
I had never gone.
He took me.
Something about the way I held the stick
Something about the way I laughed when I trapped an apple,
Squealed with joy as it fell
Out of the basket and into the bag,
Something sent him into fury
Not like that—as you grip the bar and yanked.
Maybe watching is just as fun.
Watching teaches what is supposed to be
Done and not done
It teaches that the apple bag is heavy
And can tear.
And teaches that when apples fall from
The bag they bruise.
Go wait in the car—you rip the bag from my hands.
I have to do everything myself—you brush past me
I fall into the dirt, clutching the apples gathered
Against my stomach.
I’ll go wait in the car, then.
I wrote this poem for a project during my sophomore year of college, and despite it's painful inspiration, it's one of my favorite pieces to have written. It was one of those nights where the stanzas flowed out of me like rain, and I devoured every word.
I was incredibly thrilled and honored to hear this poem was the first poem to be published, and really made all my dreams seem that much more obtainable as a young creative gaining traction.