Strewn Apple Seeds

                   "Strewn Apple Seeds"


Composing the day for an allegorical tale;
barefoot and disheveled in coarse attire,
an elderly man with a muslin sack
thrown casually over his tawny back
assured a giggling lad safely down from an apple tree.
Upon second glance, the young chap
offered thanks with glee to the renown applejack.

With a wrinkled wink and a cheery chuckle,
the small lanky gent offered the lad
a sweet delicacy from his greengrocer's basket.
Mutual singing blended 'tween the two, as they
happily danced down corridors of the shady orchard.

Sunshine and merriment were pronounced in kind,
as the elder roamed hilly lands and country gardens;
from Colonial New England states
and across the Mid-western wilderness.
Praised for his generous ways, charity and altruism,
many a countryman, woman and child
knew this jaunty wanderer as a friend of farmers,
merchants, Indians, and a companion of all animals.

Conservation respected, stories shared, seeds strewn,
nurseries planted, and shrewd bartering by trade;
John Chapman was hailed by another name. Known
as an eccentric nurseryman toting a sack and a pot,
Johnny Appleseed was America's folk hero; sharing
cheer and planting apple trees became his fame.


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Dedicated to the Stan and Pat Needles family, Findlay, Ohio.