Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed
\nhad agreed to mediation
\ntheir relationship as iconic legends
\nfrayed, upsetting their fans<\/p>\n
\u201cI plant trees and you chop them down!\u201d
\n\u201cI do nothing of the sort, Johnny!
\nI harvest timber! Apple wood is no good!\u201d
\nthundered Paul, while Johnny eyed him<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who is cutting down my apple trees?\u201d
\nJohnny was inquisitive, not accusatory.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d said Paul, softly \u2018Not us.\u201d
\nThe mediator watched each of them <\/p>\n
\u201cYou are known for felling large forests\u201d
\nsaid Johnny, softly. \u201cI heard you cut it all.\u201d
\nPaul leaned in toward Johnny. \u201cThat is not true.
\nI cut timber\u2026and I love to eat fresh apples!\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnny Appleseed started to chuckle
\n\u201cI guess that makes sense. Apple trees are
\nscrawny \u2013 but the fruit is tasty!\u201d
\nHe stuck out his hand, Paul accepted.<\/p>\n
The two men stood, shook hands
\nstarted for the door. \u201cYou know, John \u2013
\nIf some apple trees come down in a storm
\nI hear they make great bacon smoke!\u201d<\/p>\n
The mediator opened their file, simply
\nwriting \u201cSatisfactory conclusion\u201d
\nbefore throwing the folder onto his desk
\nbefore heading for the door himself. <\/p>\n
Remembering words his grandma said
\n\u2018Don\u2019t be afraid to go out on a limb.
\nThat\u2019s where the fruit is.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\u2013 Mark L. Lucker
\n\u00a9 2022
\nhttp:\/\/lrd.to\/sxh9jntSbd<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed had agreed to mediation their relationship as iconic legends frayed, upsetting their fans \u201cI plant trees and you chop them down!\u201d \u201cI do nothing of the sort, Johnny! I harvest timber! Apple wood is no good!\u201d thundered Paul, while Johnny…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,441],"tags":[5360,5525,5524],"class_list":["post-119758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem","category-poetry-prompt-responses","tag-2022hour14","tag-2022hour14myths","tag-2022prompt14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/694"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119769,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119758\/revisions\/119769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}