XENITH

Empty Farmhouse
by Jeff Fleming

The farm was abandoned
when the crops failed.

Even the house
is not enough

to draw anyone
way out here.

The apple trees have gone
wild, giving fruit

to the earth
and migrating birds.

One tree, blown over
in a passing storm,

has fallen against
the empty farmhouse,

but still grows strong,
dropping apples

through an open window.
Every fall, the fruit

rots upon the hard-
wood floor,

leaving seeds that struggle
to grow among

abandoned furniture.

***
Jeff Fleming is the editor of a poetry magazine called nibble. His poetry is forthcoming in Ibbetson Street Press and Lummox Journal, among others. Fleming lives in a house on a hill in the fog with his wife and two young sons. He writes poetry when no one is looking.

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