Apple Trees

In spring they planted three apple trees on common land

with space beneath

piles of stones moved from a wall for more in autumn.

Each of the trees carefully selected so as to pollinate the other;

cards rattled in wind

to remind themselves of the groups and the fruit and the science.

And after planting they scrubbed at the soil on their skin

and scratched beneath

fingernails to remove any trace of earth from their hands.

As summer came the land began to flood; it rained continually.

Stars disappeared and

the absence of memories bound mirrored weeks into

a year that everyone would soon forget. The stone lay unmoved

as she picked at the last

surviving blossom, pressing the flower between two sheets

so that the blues previously unseen bled to the shape of a tear.

And from the bleached flower

an outline appeared revealing everything that to them was missing.