Big Macintosh Waxes Poetic

Sweet and heavy hang the blossoms this delicate Spring night

The apple orchard before me- my pride and my delight

See! how light on my hooves the wind makes me

Ah! how full of peace is my heart

Softly I move, softly with thought of tired mares and sleepy foals

Softly lest they wake

They dream and all is well

They dream of work and play and hearty food with smiling faces

And I am content, for their happiness is mine

See now, how I stomp my hoof and bathe in a shower of petals?

All the earth responds to me

Naught shall harm this charmed place

All who enter must pass me on my lofty hilltop

And my body is equal to the thickest root, the oldest bough

I am my family’s protector and guard

Only good dreams shall I allow tonight

Sentinel on a hill of apple trees blooming under the moon

And they shall bloom every spring, forever

Though I speak little

My heart brims over with this sensation

My family! how I love them

Each scraped knee and tear of my sister, big or small, is a blow to me

And my Granny, Granny our wisdom and soul

The earth nourishing saplings

How can I ever say what family is?

Family, the golden memories of carefree summers

Family, the bountiful harvest won by toil

Family, the struggle and triumph of harsh winters

Family, this very spring night, so peaceful and fragrant

And should my wakeful sister find me, nose lifted and eyes shining

And ask if I am chilled by the playful night air

I shall inhale the heady scent of new earth and apple blossoms

And look at her with wonderment that I should be so lucky

All tawdry words shall fail me then, and so!

My eyes alone express my soul, my pride and love and hope

And with my mouth, with clarity, I simply answer, “Nope.”

Author's Notes:

Poem by PersianJuliet