crab apples

my mother is smoking a cigarette
out on the lawn
she is looking at the apple tree
there on the edge of the field
its branches have been cut back
from last i was here
so the stone bench underneath it
no longer falls in shadow

my father is mowing the lawn
slow swaths cut back
and forth
with the tractor
surrounded by the growl and hum of the motor

the largest branch of the tree
was held by a cable
when i was a child
grown into the trunk
supporting it as it stretched
far out beyond the trunk

this year
the crab apples have already begun to grow
thick and full
on the one branch still putting out leaves
growing straight and tall
from the core of the tree

my mother is concerned that the tree
might die
it is barely recognizable
trimmed back and grown
unfamiliar to her
but still
this fall
the ground below it
will be painful to tread on
covered in rotting crab apples

she is talking of planting a new tree
im wondering how long
it will be
before i can climb the apple tree again