Tomatoes Tell The Truth
No smell matches
Just after a spray
The water taken quickly
The thanks immediate
They tell the truth
This universe of tomatoes
Persisting in dry baked days
Eager to exceed the highest
Expectations
And then doing just that
So versatile, in their
Category that stands
Them
Alone
Start the day with them,
say hello
Admire
Water,
Shift their stand to
Take in the sun
as they eagerly
Couple with other delights
To bring taste, aroma and
Health, beauty
And such lush joy
It is a pattern
You may wish to follow
They tell you what in
the world is
Coming
If you listen while you water
They stand tall and
Lean with the sun, not to it
They come in many shapes
And sizes
And tastes
Yet remain one universe
If someone calls you
A sweet tomato
Feel honored
Tom Squitieri is a three-time winner of the Overseas Press Club and White House Correspondents’ Association awards for work as a war correspondent. His poetry appears in more than 30 publications, in the book “Put Into Words My Love,” in the film “Fate’s Shadow: The Whole Story” and in Color: Story 2020. He has taught writing, journalism, media studies, political systems and realities, foreign policy, and practical street knowledge at Washington & Jefferson College and American University, and writes most of his poetry while parallel parking or walking his dogs, Topsie and Batman.
Image by domdomegg, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons