1.
Through the night
the apples
outside my window
one by one let go
their branches and
drop to the lawn.
I can’t see, but hear
the stem-snap, the plummet
through leaves, then
the final thump against the ground.
Sometimes two at once, or one
right after another.
During long moments of silence
I wait
and wonder about the bruised bodies,
the terror of diving through air, and
think I’ll go tomorrow
to find the newly fallen, but they
all look alike lying there
dewsoaked, disappearing before me.
2.
I lie beneath my window listening
to the sound of apples dropping in
the yard, a syncopated code I long to know,
which continues even as I sleep, and dream I know
the meaning of what I hear, each dull
thud of unseen apple-
body, the earth
falling to earth
once and forever, over
and over.
~ Li-Young Lee, “Falling: The Code” from Rose
Notes:
- Source: Photo: MilaMai Photography – Why do stars and apples fall? Li-Young Lee Poem: Thank you Beth @ Alive on All Channels.
- Inspired by Albert Einstein’s quote: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
- Related Posts: Miracle. All of it.
The second verse somehow saves me from the first
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I can see how you landed there. I was taken by it all.
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always the inevitable fall back to earth.
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That had to be some sudden weather moving in to make the apples drop off in such great numbers. Usually they fall a few each day. I had to get past that reality first before I could enjoy the poem(s). And why is he lying under his window in the middle of the night? Oh dear… the realist in me is having a hard time with this one. Except for that, the poems are lovely.
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Laughing. Your mind is GREAT.
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Thanks. I’ll tell my husband. 😉
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Had to read this more than once…
Still reading it.
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Good….
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Gorgeous.
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