The Hebridean Crab Apple

by Marjorie Lotfi

—   mysterious lonely apple tree on uninhabited Hebridean island baffles scientists

 

This, I understand: the instinct to cling,

at any cost, to the place you are rooted,

to see another season through, though

the others seed elsewhere. Even in this

 

sedentary act you push the limit: winter

becomes summer becomes winter

and you are steadfast on your crag,

your outcrop. No one knows the shape

 

of your limbs against a darkening sky;

you question the need to grow against

the wind. Despite what they say,

there’s no mystery in simply holding on.

 

And what is home if not the choice —

over and over again —to stay?

 

 

‘The Hebridean Crab Apple’

Marjorie Lotfi, The Wrong Person to Ask (Bloodaxe Books, 2023)