Today my fifteen-minute break arrived
Upon the minute that work bade it should
And so I, weary, made my way outside
Where soon beneath an apple tree I stood.
The heat released a fragrance from the fruit
So sweet from apples crushed upon the ground
That put me in my grandpa’s yard, a youth,
Delighted so, I laughed and twirled ’round.
The heat had made the apples start to rot –
A buzzing pair of wasps around me flew.
They almost kissed my skin but I cared not,
For freedom’s rush and calm I’d found anew.
I jumped and caught an apple from the tree
And, landing, found my work in front of me.

– Sally Jo