“What if Johnny Appleseed had planted pumpkins instead of apples?”

What if Johnny wandered west,  
A knapsack full of orange dreams,  
And planted not the apple’s zest  
But tender pumpkin seeds in streams?

What if fields from east to west  
Grew round and gold instead of red—  
Ivory vines on green hills pressed,  
Pumpkin lanterns overhead?

The poets would not praise the bloom  
Of apple bough in early May,  
But sing of sprawling vines that loom  
And orange globes by night and day.

Children would not climb in trees  
For tart fruit high above the ground,  
But wander pumpkin canopies  
Where fairytale-sized squash abound.

No cider mills, but pumpkin pies,  
Sweet soups and toasted seeds to chew,  
October feasts for eager eyes—  
A harvest world the whole year through.

Orchards changed to pumpkin patches;  
Every road a lantern glow—  
And Johnny, smiling as he watches  
Fields of pumpkins row by row.

A pumpkin in the teacher’s hand,  
For every student in their seat;  
Pumpkin seeds would sow the land—  
A world uniquely warm and sweet.

So raise a slice to what could be,  
When pondering a fabled deed:  
Imagine, for a spell, with me—  
Pumpkins, thanks to Appleseed!

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