Tomatoes, watermelons, and grapes—
Do they seem to you merely as sustenance?
Within the tomato, flesh is shyly concealed,
Yet as it opens wide before you,
It imparts to you the truths of mathematics.
The watermelon blossoms into your laughter;
Within it, a synthesis of earth and plant—
A microcosm is born.
Never devour it at once!
Pay your reverence!
Only savor the entire universe within.
A shelter hotter than midsummer itself!
Grapes?
Clustered like tiny, dangling bells,
Do not pluck and consume them thoughtlessly,
Lest it be you who is consumed in the end.
This is a divine, sensuous intoxication
bestowed by God.
Two Cabbage Whites fluttering
Through the warm summer air
And I'm watching them drowsily
From my comfy garden chair.
Leaves are whispering muttering
In the light steady breeze
Blowing through a neighbour’s
Tall, mature, garden trees.
The tomatoes are blushing on
The four plants we’ve got
Standing on the patio, each
In its own deep ceramic pot.
I let their fragrance§
Envelop my face
And i’m transported to
A different time and place.
To the long gardens behind
The blacksmith’s yard
Overhung by the trees
From the village graveyard.
Tomatoes in the greenhouse
With that very special smell
And the taste of stolen fruit
That i remember so well.
Hidden by the plants
Eating one or two
Deliciously home grown
Wondering if dad knew
Creeping in there
Time after time
Carefully repeating
My little acts of crime.
In a very different garden now
Just as tall but different trees
But still the same treesong
Drifting on a different breeze.
Both places of happiness
And, memory being kind,
They are now forever linked
In the recesses of my mind.
tomatoes refresh my sandwiches and soup
giving a lift to every single food group
I eat them on pizzas and scrambled eggs too
Loving tomato juices better than liquid cow moo.
Tomatoes with Swiss cheese
Thickly stacked on Rye bread
Twirled, flipped in hot butter
That melts out creamy flows-
Tasty, warm cheese dripping
Through cracks of crispy crust
Tempts me as my best lunch!
Tangy, sweet, or “just right”
Ohs and ahs of sheer delight
Makes mouths water at the sight
Attacks the tongue with spirit bright
Takes a palate to heaven's height
Olfactory senses come alight
Essentially stirs the appetite
Savor the flavor in each bite
I kill for tomatoes
if only they were satisfied
with some~ the fat, green
caterpillars --
Weeds seem always to thrive --
like children somehow in the
gutter – soil of the street
never needs tilling, or nitrogen
added, handily replenishes its own
filth and acrid scent --
Occasionally one ripe
with good seed is spared
both plate and gutter
then to be crucified
The moonbroch is quite pronounced tonight—rain can’t be far off. It will be good for the vegetable garden and save my back from having to cart water for a few days. Not too much rain, though, as the skins of the tomatoes would split; they are about to be harvested ...
in their prime
full and promising
under limpid sky
threadbare jumper
gathered close
Slowly moving, so eloquently in black and white
Killing the verve; in the cool, still fall night
Unique with a foul stench
No K-9 warning labels
Kindness requires; bathing you, in the blood of a thousand tomatoes
For women men drop big cash
To have them toothy smiles flash:
If one needs windows, gets Sash:
Blenders to tomatoes mash,
Women quite free to sound brash!
For handsome men – No! A Trash!
Even Eves the idea thrash,
For being infinitely rash,
Save one did cash in banks stash…
Macho Men can’t their teeth gnash
Nor round with displeasure dash:
Whether Norman, Noah or Nash
They’d be unleashing tongue lash,
On their names leaving a gash…
No luck with views A Mishmash.
I think I may come from and my
hole entire family are tomatoes
And this the reason I think why
is this
We all have and possess such
perennial rotten luck
Passed down from my Dad to
Bianca the baby
Red faces born out of total
and due to utter exasperation
Wondering why oh why
What on earth did or could we all
of us have done wrong
Each and every one of us tarred
with the same unsightly fate
Also knowing nothing is or will
ever change
Or we will ever get to know the
reason why
Either
Tomatoes
Haiku by Tom
7/23/2022
Extreme heat causes
tomato blooms not to set
limiting supply
They sat in a large blue bowl all afternoon,
In tap water and stillness.
She cleaned them that evening.
She did not see the little cuts, not the gaping brown sores.
She did not see the dirt specs float down the spirling drain.
She saw perfection as it was, hard-won, with just reward.
One bite as brilliant as the sun.
A backyard planter bursting with
Tomatoes on the vine
Provided treats for several mouths
And one of them was mine.
My son’s the one who grew ‘em.
His daughter and her aunt
Plucked only those deemed red enough;
The rest stayed on the plant.
While picking was in progress,
My son trimmed leaves that died,
Which my grandgirl helped me gather up
To toss off to the side.
Though not all family members
Helped to make the chore complete,
We all reaped the rewards
Of those tomatoes, ripe and sweet.
Ripe tomatoes in the supermarket
The red tip of my own nose.
Their lime green imagination
Marauded by Edgar Allen Poe.
Her silver dollar face raises hellfire
Says the stringy girl who believes in ghosts.
Goodnight to the lucky cat
Who kisses my cheek with his prose.
Her calico hat sticks to dewy grass
While the hooves of the lumpy deer carcass doze.
The weight of dreams lifted off my shoulders
By the kiss of conciousness on my nose.
Elephant ears with a green glow.
Gives nature a magnificent show.
Please visit and stay down below.
One of my plants looks like a sweet bow.
Zinnias, marigolds, roses too.
Sharing their pretty. Each one brand new.
Daisies planted softly in the ground.
More beautiful garden rarely found.
Sunflower’s face so prettily round.
Tiny grasshopper providing sound.
My work is happy. Dirt therapy.
Flowers my main productivity.
Angels, faeries, dragonflies too.
Sit next to pasture where cows go moo.
I have no qualms about what to do.
I’ll also grow tomatoes for you.
Soil so dear; flowers and veggies love it here.
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