<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">My Mother’s Pears </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s2"> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">Plump, green-gold, Worcester’s pride,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> transported through autumn skies</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> in a box marked Handle With Care</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">sleep eighteen Bartlett pears,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> hand-picked and polished and packed</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> for deposit at my door,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">each in its crinkled nest</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> with a stub of stem attached</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> and a single bright leaf like a flag.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">A smaller than usual crop,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> but still enough to share with me,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> as always at harvest time.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">Those strangers are my friends</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> whose kindness blesses the house</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> my mother built at the edge of town</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">beyond the last trolley-stop</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> when the century was young, and she</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> proposed, for her children’s sake,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">to marry again, not knowing how soon</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> the windows would grow dark</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> and the velvet drapes come down.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">Rubble accumulates in the yard,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> workmen are hammering on the roof,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> I am standing knee-deep in dirt</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">with a shovel in my hand.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> Mother has wrapped a kerchief round her head,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> her glasses glint in the sun.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">When my sisters appear on the scene,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> gangly and softly tittering,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> she waves them back into the house</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">to fetch us pails of water,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> and they skip out of our sight</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> in their matching middy blouses.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">I summon up all my strength</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> to set the pear tree in the ground,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> unwinding its burlap shroud.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1">It is taller than I. “Make room</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> for the roots!” my mother cries,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"> “Dig the hole deeper.”</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>- Stanley Kunitz</div></body></html>