peeling apples

as you peeled
an apple
as a young child
your mother
would say
the curl of skin
would be the first
letter of name
of the girl
you'd marry.
which made no
sense at all, leaving
out the letter
D and R and an
assortment of
others, but you
liked the idea.
even then amazed
that someone could
love you enough
to marry you,
no matter what
the name. love
it seemed
was as easy
as peeling
the skin off an
apple.