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334. Apple Sorting Chair, Birch and Pine
by Kelley White
original red stained varnish finish, rounded
crest rail, four-spoke back, scalloped pine seat,
four short turned and canted legs with box stretcher,
Canterbury, NH, c. 1850, 8 ½” seat h, 20 ¼”
overall h. (ex. Dr. Sprowls collection). $4000
Busy leisure. This luxury of September sun
kissing my shoulders (which I leave unshaded,
my bonnet in my lap,) and Daniel’s orchard,
the apples which our children pick laid in careful baskets
around me, the groundfalls that the youngest gather
oozing sticky sweetness from their bruises,
bees lulled to the memory of spring. Two yoke
of oxen pull the wagon to the mill for the pressing but
I set aside the best for pies and the prettiest to eat
from hand. I make little nonsense songs to praise
the sky for blueness, the clouds, and the little breeze.
I think Daniel hears me. He is examining the varieties
for signs of blemish and poor yield. I believe I will sing
another song.
Kelley White
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A New Hampshire native, Kelley White studied at Dartmouth College and Harvard Medical School and has been a pediatrician in inner-city Philadelphia for more than twenty years. Mother of three, she is an active Quaker. Her poems have been widely published over the past five years, including several book collections and chapbooks, and have appeared in numerous journals including Exquisite Corpse, Nimrod, Poet Lore, Rattle and the Journal of the American Medical Association.
EMAIL: kelleywhitemd@yahoo.com
KELLEY WHITE IN THIS EDITION:
POETRY: Apple Sorting Chair, Birch and Pine
POETRY: Basket Form and Rare Pitch Pipe, Maple
POETRY: Duster, Maple, Turned Handle
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