Harvest Time – Poetry by Pamela Bordisso

To close out The Bloom's literary publications for 2022, and to celebrate Lake County, we revisit pear poems that were written by local writers for the annual Kelseyville Pear Festival in September of 2022. 

Harvest Time
You are not here
You do not stand in these
Long rows of trees
You no longer look at the size,
Or shape, 
Or color of these pears
You are not in this orchard
You do not direct the picking
You do not toil 
This harvest season
You do not tell me of
This year’s crop
The market price
The tonnage heading to the sheds
You are gone
Your trees,
Your father’s trees,
Stand tall 
Glossy dark green leaves
Against brilliant, blue sky
In your absence
Strong branches 
Bear the weight of 
this year’s pears
You are not here 
To let this green fruit
Ripen
In your kitchen
You whisper through time
the sweet joy of biting
Into the fragrant 
Golden flesh 
You are not present 
To slice, can, dry,
preserve, or bake
these tender 
Globes of light
The pears miss you
The orchards that are
Also gone
They long for the tender 
Loving care
Given by you
You and the 
whole town
Who breathed life
Into 
Kelseyville Pears