that apple

glowing in the blue glass dish

vibrant in its is-ness

sacred to Apollo

font of Avalon

offers itself

from the first garden

sweet as knowledge

bitter as wisdom

from Iduna's box

food to keep gods

forever young

or food for the dead

stolen by Hercules

from Hera's orchard

dragon-guarded

in the Hesperides

given by Aphrodite

to Hippomenes, to win

fair Atalanta in an unfair race

Discord-rolled

into a wedding

so the prettiest one

began a war

yet standing for happy

union in marriage

fertility

fire-bird's prize

on snowy steppes

food for Europe's golden bird

mermaids and peahens

pass it on

through Wandering Aengus

and Johnny Appleseed

down to me

strange as any symbol

unknowable ding an sich

homely as pie, cooling

on suburban window sill

golden apple of the sun

history of gods and man

desire and temptation

mystical, forbidden

all of these

all of this

is apple