Today is the day the Harmony Fair holds its annual State of Maine-sponsored two-crust apple pie contest. And this year two of my judges are high school English teachers and lovers of poetry who also happen to be skilled bakers. Amazing, wouldn't you say?

Therefore, for the first time ever, the apple pie judging will begin with a poem: "Ray," by Hayden Carruth. It's about pie, of course, and also contains literary referents, which English teachers love.

P.S. Moby-Dick readers: don't make me nag.