Epitaph for an Apple Orchard

Epitaph for an Apple Orchard

for John and Marie Wetterich

A hundred years of petal fall,
A hundred years of birds and bees,
A hundred years of heart and soul,
Now, farewell to the apple trees.

Now the blade and saw and plow
Have done their work and gone, and now
There’s just a field where once the bees
Hummed love songs to the apple trees.

Somewhere other trees will bring
Another apple blossom Spring.
But these we lived — and now they’re done.
God bless the apples, every one,
And bless those souls and dry their tears
Who blessed our valley’s hundred years.