24 April

Day 24 

Prompt from Napowrimo.net - describe fruit
This is mostly 'found' from apple sites (for apple keepers) with some additions

Eden

I worked for a time up in the orchard

on the edge of somewhere you have never been.

The farmer told us our job, picking but not tasting

We  disobeyed him -stealing them to bite with our new teeth

They said two of the apple trees were brothers,

Good and Notgood-

sweetness only after the first frost of the year,

tasting like perfume  wildness, very early desire

The apples were not quite the grasp-span of my hand

as I plucked them too soon from the stiff, old fingers

Man ate one first, then blamed me,

but I invented taste and words to describe theft on my tongue-

greenlarge tartgood tartlarge, tartlarge greeningnever

thinchopped tartwithered juicyrosy,

witheredjelly redcharming mellowhideous 

sourgreen tartrotten russetfavorite

perfectsmallest and worstsour,

witheredmedium-sized tarttiny sourearly russethot

and tartmellow sweetsmall and sourlonesome

greenlarge red-cheeked enny green

Many fell on their own,

that was forgiven. In lean times, they were windfall -

We stored them till they stank of dazy sugar

drank them as they rotted, sang praise songs

It wasn't an easy job, but it was important,

my fingers bleeding onto the waxy skin.

I remember now,   in the dust and in the after,

Our Days were choked with apple blossom petals