Red Delicious Apple

INGREDIENTS: A SEED (STRATIFIED FOR 3 MONTHS, SUSPENDED AND REFRIGERATED IN DAMP SAND); WORKING HANDS (TO SOW THE SEED DIRECTLY IN THE OUTDOOR SOIL AS SPRING ARRIVES); SPROUT (SOUTH FACING, WILL NEED 8 HOURS A DAY OF SUNLIGHT TO BECOME); THE TREE (8 TO 10 YEARS OF CARE UNTIL ITS FRUIT IS REVEALED); HARVESTING HANDS (LIKELY UNDERPAID WORKERS FEARING DEPORTATION USHERING THE FRUIT INTO ITS DESTINY: YOUR HANDS); OTHER CARING & MISCELLANEOUS HANDS (FOR TRANSPORTATION, CLEANING, LABELING, BOXING, STACKING & SHELVING); FRUIT COMPOSITION: AQUA, VEGETABLE OILS, STARCH, SUGAR; OTHER NATURAL INGREDIENTS: CAROTENE, TOCOPHEROL (E306), RIBOFLAVIN (E101), NICOTINAMIDE, PANTOTHENIC ACID, OLEIC ACID, FOLIC ACID, MALIC ACID (E296), SODIUM, POTASSIUM, PHOSPHORUS, ZINC; *ALL INGREDIENTS WERE ALREADY CONTAINED IN THE SEED SUSPENDED IN DAMP SAND MORE THAN 12 YEARS AGO, OR PERHAPS EVEN MORE THAN 100, DEPENDING ON THE ORCHARD *(ORIGINAL SEEDLING IDENTIFIED IN IOWA, BY JESSE HIATT IN 1880). REMEMBER: THIS MARVEL OF MAKER AND MAN WAS NEVER THE FRUIT OF A FORBIDDEN TREE AT THE BEGINNING OF TIME, NOR IT EXISTED EVER TO TEMPT A WOMAN TO TEMPT A MAN, NOR DID IT CAUSE ANY ORIGINAL SIN (WHATEVER THAT MEANS), NOR WAS IT USED BY WITCHES TO POISON PRINCESSES. THIS PIECE OF FRUIT DOES NOT ENDORSE ITS ICONOGRAPHY. SUGGESTED USE: ONCE A DAY THEY SAY THE DOCTOR SAYS BUT STILL, YOU MAY HAVE OODLES. HOW TO EAT: TAKE A DEEP BREATH, ACKNOWLEDGE THE JOURNEY OF THE FRUIT FROM ITS SEED LEVEL UNTIL IT REACHES YOUR HANDS. RECOGNIZE THE MANY OTHER HANDS THAT CARED, HARVESTED, CLEANED, BOXED AND SHELVED THE RED WONDER THAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO CONSUME, FOR NOTHING IS JUST A THING. BLESS AS YOU WASH THE FRUIT WITH WATER. AWAKEN AWE. PLEASE, DO NOT PROCEED UNTIL YOU DO. HOLD ON TO THAT AWE AT LEAST UNTIL YOUR FIRST BITE (THIS WILL JUSTIFY THE SEED, THE FRUIT, ITS JOURNEY AND YOU: ITS VERY END). SAY THANKS. EAT. ENJOY. SAY THANKS AGAIN.

by Juan Chemes

Juan Chemes was born in Santo Tomé, Argentina. Mr. Chemes grew up under a devastating dictatorship which is likely the reason why he started to write. His father owned a cinema—where Mr. Chemes spent most of his childhood—and the continual reading of Spanish subtitles made him acquainted with the sound of the English language. This year, he published a few poems with “Indolent Books” in NY, and a non-fiction piece at Bloggetry. Mr. Chemes will have earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Adelphi University this coming May, 2018, and he’s currently working on revising his thesis.