Deborah L. Davitt
Dryads of the Ancient Orchard
No dryads for fruit trees live;
thanks to grafting, they’re too tame.
Branches bow as if captive—
humans tend them, just the same.
And if the trees are restive?
They express it with acclaim,
with apples that outlived
the Romans who gave them fame.
We are their dryads; forgive
us our sins, as we exclaim
upon fruits so addictive,
with taste and colors aflame,
with ancient genes evasive,
which for the future, we claim.
We preserve the fugitive;
and thus the past? We reclaim.
_______________
Deborah L. Davitt was raised in Nevada, but currently lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and son. Her award-winning poetry and prose have appeared in over seventy journals, including F&SF, Asimov’s, Analog, and Lightspeed. For more about her work, including her poetry collections, The Gates of Never, Bounded by Eternity, From Voyages Unreturning, Xenoforming, and To Love Unquietly, please see www.deborahldavitt.com.
Author’s Backstory/Crafting Elements: I have a great love for reading science articles on a variety of topics, and I definitely recall reading articles about the efforts to reclaim heritage varieties of apples planted hundreds of years ago. I also remember reading about how Romans spread apples wherever they planted their cities. This confluence of my twin interests, history and science, resulted in this poem!
Editor’s Comments/Image Credit: This ballad-like poem is comprised of heptasyllabic lines the same rhyme propagated through all four quatrains, abab.
Dryads were the beating heart of the forest. These tree nymphs were the guardians and caretakers of their groves, woodlands, and forests. They nurtured the saplings, soothed the rustling leaves, and mourned the fallen giants. The forest thrived with their presence, a vibrant tapestry woven with the magic of the Dryads. The dryads alluded to in the poem are epimelids, which were a symbol of abundance and harmony between nature and humanity. These nymphs, dwelling amidst apple trees and watching over sheep, embodied the concept of nature’s bounty. They ensured the orchards overflowed with delicious fruits, a source of sustenance, and protected the gentle creatures that provided wool and meat. Their presence signified a world where nature thrived and offered its gifts freely. [cited from Digital Maps of the Ancient World]
The photograph of the apple on the tree (by Ember Sitton on Unsplash) is combined with a tree nymph (Pngtree) in PowerPoint.