There’s nothing like an apple
Not a thing
In summer, fall, millenium or spring
The crisp, collapsing clutter in the mouth
Wet sugar squirting east, west, north and south
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To read Mark’s other Spring Poetry Runoff Competition entries, go here and here.
*Competition entry*
Wilderness Interface Zone 
Mmmmm. I like how you’ve put “millenium” in the spot where winter should go. Seems like a thousand years, doesn’t it?
LikeLike
.
I totally agree—that word made the poem my favorite thing today.
LikeLike
“Collapsing clutter” is the perfect phrase for what happens in the mouth when eating a really good apple.
LikeLike
You can thank a long string of really tasty apples for this one.
I like those bits, too. I don’t know where “millennium” came from, but it fit right in. For me it has a real “After Apple Picking” feel. “Collapsing clutter” pleases me, too–on the page or in the mouth.
Should I change “squirting” to “shooting”, though? More of a fireworky feel.
LikeLike
The apple in this poem, for me, is green…one of those sweet green apples.
LikeLike
“Sugar shooting” has a nice alliteration. Although “squirting” really gets the saliva flowing. I’d say that’s a toss up.
LikeLike
Sounds like a leave-as. Thanks for the input, folks.
LikeLike
“Squirting” gives more the sense that the wet sugar is under the duress of teeth and tongue, more a sense of lushness, of the natural accident of being crushed and having juice fly everywhere as a consequence.
LikeLike
That clinches it. Thanks, Will.
LikeLike