UNDER THE APPLE TREE Poem by Rutger Kopland

I came home, it was about
eight and remarkably
close for the time of the year,
the garden seat stood waiting
under the apple tree

I took my place and sat
watching how my neighbour
was still digging in his garden,
the night came out of the soil
a light growing bluer hung
in the apple tree

then slowly it once again became
too beautiful to be true, the day's
alarms disappeared in the scent
of hay, toys again lay
in the grass and from far away in the house
came the laughter of children in the bath
to where I sat, to
under the apple tree

and later I heard the wings
of wild geese in the sky
heard how still and empty
it was becoming

luckily someone came and sat
beside me, to be precise it was
you who came to my side
under the apple tree,
remarkably close
for our time of life.