NaPoWriMo For Fruit in the Winter

All up the street on our boulevard, crab apple trees were planted in the 1940’s. They are still growing and blooming, much to our enjoyment and for the winter nutrients for birds, turkeys, and mule deer. The turkeys and birds peck at the apples hanging on snow covered branches, and some eventually fall to the ground, where the mule deer are waiting for their turn at a meal.

I can see one of these trees outside my kitchen window, and I love the turning of the seasons according to that tree. I will so miss it when it goes; they are so old. I am thankful to have been blessed by its beauty each season.

I learned a new word from these trees: apricity: the warmth of the sun in winter. The word was from a Spoonflower Challenge for which I created a pattern based on the crab apples in winter on a sunny day with bright blue skies.

The winter sun and its warmth, apricity, inspired a crab apple pattern, the palette and the pattern above along with an Earth Day card based on the crab apple blossoms You can find my greeting card and postcard on Zazzle. Inside the cards say: “Every day is Earth Day. Enjoy and protect its beauty.” See Apricity Crab Apple art in fabric, home decor, and wallpaper on Spoonflower here: Apricity Crab Apple.

So today’s poem is about the crab apple tree again, and its special seasons: winter and spring. Enjoy.

For Fruit in Winter

In winter
crab apples hang still
on snow covered branches;
mule deer wait below
for turkeys to drop them.

In spring
crab apple blossoms
explode in magenta
bees hover over
for fruit in the winter.

Sheri Edwards
National Poetry Month
4/20/26