The Apple Tree
By Jacob Anthony Ramírez
On Sunday, the apple tree gave us ravens.
They buried their feet heavily on branches.
They wet their beaks with blossoms and blooms.
They gurgled juice with their throaty squawks.
We watched them from our white kitchen.
The murder fluttered like a song of volcanoes.
We drank black coffee watching those birds
And when they vanished a purple silence flew in.
Wind tapped the rope against the vacant tree.
The grass lay wet with skins and a blue rain.
Jacob Anthony Ramírez (he/him) is a poet, educator, and visual artist from California. He is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Lancaster. His work has been published in several publications, among them, Haymarket Books’ The Breakbeat Poets’ LatiNEXT, The Latino Book Review Magazine, and The Indianapolis Review. He teaches in Sonoma County where he lives with his wife and two children. He is currently at work on his debut collection.