The speaker remembers one autumn when apples kept dropping into her canvas bag without any effort. She only has to brush a branch, and the fruit rolls down her sleeve and into the bag. It's almost comic, and she stands there amused and a little baffled.
The poem gets its weight from the contrast with earlier years. Then, loosened apples hit the ground and were left to wasps, mice, possums and deer. The speaker names two hard years, one when her sister died and one when her parents left their old house and she helped save plants from her mother's garden. In those years the harvest seemed wasted, as if nothing could be gathered or kept. This year feels different. The final image calls the apples "blessings" and "easy autumn dreams," which suggests relief and quiet gratitude. The mood is gentle and grateful, with grief sitting just beneath the surface.