sharply succulent

tomato dreams

the tomato seed germinates,

prods itself out of the ground

in hopes the sun will be there for it,

it reaches as high as it can go

while inside for a month

as killing cold holds sway over the garden,

it falls over and finds a way to reach high again anew,

it knows hope,

and it embodies will,

I can feel within the stalky green

the potential of tomato upon tomato coming to be,

and I long to pluck each sharply succulent globe

and bite into what was but a dream

back in the dead of winter,

humans are such stuff as can envision and make real such dreams,

I imagine the tomato,

and I work to find the path from my imagining

to plucking that first fresh tomato

as soon after the Summer Solstice as possible.

by Henry H. Walker

March 19, ’14