Once I dunked my head
into a barrel of water and
took a big bite of you, Macintosh.
You were tart and hard to swallow
so I downed you with a cinnamon
donut, a cup of cider.
I remember climbing for you, Empire—
Adirondacks of my eyes, mining for mineral rocks,
canoeing in still water mountain lakes.
The time on the rental boat,
I watched my dad kill a fish with a Coke bottle,
flat eye staring up at the sky.
I cried and cried—the bittersweet taste
of Autumn Glory. I remember standing in line
at a Portland nursery, yellow jackets buzzing
around the paper cup samples we held.
I had never tried—Jonagold, Honeycrisp
Ambrosia, Fuji, apples that tasted
sweeter than upstate New York
It’s been years since I’ve visited
home, that place, now photographs.
Now the memory of my dad
in his favorite blue leather chair
eating an apple to its core.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 27, Issue 4.
Sherri Levine is a poet, mental health advocate, and teacher, who lives in Portland, Oregon. She spent her career teaching English to immigrants and refugees. She was awarded the Lois Cranston Memorial Prize and is a four-time winner in Oregon Poetry Association Contests. Her books include Stealing Flowers from the Neighbors (Kelsay Press, 2021), a national book club Pick for Alzheimer’s Authors, A Joy to See (Just a Lark Books, 2023), an ekphrastic anthology of her late mother’s paintings with poems from esteemed poets. Her most recent work. I Remember Not Sleeping (Fernwood Press, 2024)–an illustrated poetry book dedicated to those suffering from mental illness or those who know someone who is. Her writing can be found in Prairie Schooner, Poet Lore, Driftwood Press, Calyx, Jewish Literary Review among many others. She believes in the power of writing in the community, supporting and encouraging mental health recovery.
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