Stephanie Kaylor

Under an Old Apple Tree

In the field next to the orchard
a black stallion grazed upon the
lanky blades of grass while a white
mare tread softly around in circles
until he met her eye.

I turned my head and smiled,
resting against the gnarled
tree trunk while my daughter
floated along with the bees
through the golden light, filling
her basket as she picked an apple
from every tree,

fears I once had about my skin
seeing too much of the sun
evaporating into the pungent air
of life turned ripe, now seeing
that beauty is not something
you drape upon a powdered body,

but a feeling you can watch
under an old apple tree.

{Poem by Stephanie Kaylor}