Charles W. Pratt, Apple Annie Farmer and Poet, Dies at 76

Charles W. Pratt, a local poet who ran the Apple Annie farm in Brentwood with his wife, Joan, died Sunday. He was 76.

Pratt attended and then taught English there for more than 20 years, according to his obituary.

Pratt and his wife bought the Apple Annie farm in the early 1980s and operated it for 27 years. The pair put the land under conservation protection, ensuring it will never be developed.

Pratt's passion was poetry. He published four books, including "From the Box Marked 'Some Are Missing.'" Some of the poems were inspired by the apple orchard. You can watch Pratt read from his book in the YouTube clip at right.

Pratt won several awards for his books, which are sold locally at .

A service to celebrate Pratt's life will be held at the Phillips Church on Front Street in Exeter on June 16 at 2 p.m.

Donations in Charlie's memory can be made to the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire.

Below is one of Pratt's poems, titled "Holding My Breath."

It was a favorite aunt who used to tell
How, when I learned to swim, I'd cry out
To the attendant angels on the float,
“Going undah now,” and disappear
For as long as I could hold my breath,
Then breach spouting: call me Moby Dick.

She's gone under now, and all her memories.
She won't come up at sunset on the porch
To suck the orange slice from her old-fashioned,
Or cross-stitch dresses for the German dolls
Ranged in a glass-front case for neighbor children --
She had none -- to visit. Where are they?

Bedtime. I pull the covers up and murmur
(So my attendant angel doesn't hear),
“Going undah now.”

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