They say the apple doesn’t fall
far from the tree, which shows
how little they know
about trees or apples or falling:

how it can take a lifetime to fall
properly, to really plumb the depths
of soul, experience, depravity,
whatever needs getting to the bottom;

how apples float, like buoys or banners
or life preservers, on anything fluid
and capable of lift – water, air, the last
lingering strains of a beloved song;

how trees have roots that extend past
the reach of their branches, that entwine
rock and fungi in a living fabric
to cradle the entire world.