☩ John Chapman (1774-1845)

nurseryman, ascetic, missionary
followed Swedenborg, the mystic savant
preached the New Church to a world gone sour

bought vacant land for countless nurseries
made dollars selling apple trees to farmers
none of which he spent upon himself

clad in rags; upon his head a saucepan
barefoot, hair unkempt and beard uncut
slept in the woods, disturbing bear nor beetle

wandered over six states of the Union
Ontario, Ohio, Indiana
Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois

never any trouble from the Indians
they knew one touched by the Great Spirit
one to be left emphatically alone.