After God 10, by Tim Peeler

Tim Peeler
AFTER GOD 10

He planted apple trees,
Cleaned out the barn loft,
Ran a pine splinter into a thumb
Shelving useless old textbooks.
He cleared the dangerous asbestos ceiling,
Triple-bagged it and hauled it to the
Construction dump where he got
The pickup stuck and had to be
Pushed out by the old blues guitar
Player who operates the
Air conditioned bulldozer.
He drove home and spent a half hour
Misremembering his past;
Then he slept for the first time
Since he planted the apple trees,
And he dreamed that Andie MacDowell,
Having sold her Asheville mansion,
Had moved into the trailer next door
So she could be near his apple trees.

Bio: Tim Peeler is the author of 5 collections of poetry and 5 books on baseball history. He lives in Hickory, NC.