Legend

 Johnny Appleseed 

did it with such ease

lightly as you please

He planted trees


In days of yore giants walked among us invisibly

if we could only see


a solitary man who planted trees

thousands they say although no recorded inventory 


Johnny Appleseed 

did it with such ease

lightly as you please

He planted trees


Wherever earth was bare he went there with his seeds

turned dust bowls into flourishing oasis— 


In my dreams I see him wandering still, planting trees



Johnny Appleseed, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, 1871 


~ write a poem that plays with the idea of a “tall tale.” American tall tales feature larger-than-life characters, Paul Bunyan, Pecas Bill, etc. Your poem can revolve around a mythical character, one you make up entirely, or add fantastical elements into a real person’s biography.




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