Thursday, March 13, 2014

Poem about an historic pome

From [on the matter of the newtown pippin] by Matthew Kremer

the 'newtown pippin'
is a species known
within the growing
community as a cultivar.
now, apple gardening is
admittedly far beyond
my powers as an armchair
moralist to comprehend,
but it seems powerful enough
of a phrase to think about
on a figurative level--
a matter of evolution
within confines.
the slow crawl.
as years went by,
aficionados took the tree
to virginia and renamed it
the 'abermarle.'
the origin of the thing
began at the farm
of gersham moore,
which occupied the corner
of broadway and 45th ave,
near present-day 'winner's bar,'
where few winners are.
the last time i was there
was during the nfc
divisional playoff games
in mid-january during a storm.
the man next to me placed
a $500 bet on philadelphia
to cover the 4 point spread
and was buying drinks for
anyone in his vicinity.
i took a stella artois
from him and sat there
for most of the contest
encouraging his resolve.
as the game slipped away
and new orleans piled on
a late insurance touchdown,
i saw him slumped over
on the stool texting away
and didn't say goodbye.

5 comments:

Erik Baard said...

Thank you for celebrating this wonderful heritage! I enjoyed how the poem brings it into such contemporary context.

Anonymous said...

Boring post, Crappy.

Anonymous said...

I suggest that people reading this seek out the Newtown Pippin and try one. They are, hands down, the most delicious apple I have ever tasted. I made a pie out of them and it was out-of-this-world!

Anonymous said...

Where can one find a Newtown pippin? I would guess one of the farmers' markets would have them around the fall, no?

Erik Baard said...

Some GrowNYC Greenmarkets have them (Red Jacket Orchards, Samarscot, Locust Grove, among others) and they're best around Christmas through Valentine's Day.