DC Poets: Mike Maggio

Tomatoes

I planted them in early spring,

after the last frost had passed.

I tilled the earth

pulling weed, removing rot –

Aged, decayed leaves,

not quite mulch.

Clumps of dried-up grass.

Sticks and stems,

Stones and pebbles,

old newspapers and stray debris--

anything that would interfere

with the rearing of my precious crop.

At first, I seeded them in tiny pots

watered them loyally

morning and night

watched eagerly as they slowly sprouted.

Green sprigs of hope

peaking demurely through beads of soil,

white slip of a smile at the very top --

a foretaste of a sumptuous meal to come.

When the time was right, I transplanted them

troweled an intrepid hole

gently set my little seedlings

roots riveted in the rich, brown loam.

Each day, I tended them

watered them with my faithful hose

watched and waited

pulling a stray weed here,

a wildflower there,

guiding them along posts,

securing them in metal cages

set for them to climb and curl.

Devoted father fostering his child

Watchful parent protecting his nascent fold.

Soon, they appeared --

bright yellow blossoms,

then, shortly, gently swollen stems

at last, plush, plump green bulbs

strung like Christmas balls

suspended along graceful winding vines

buoyant in the summer sun

eager to attain their crimson destiny.

Then, one day,

the sun still settling in the morning sky,

they were gone

snatched away from their innocent perch.

A stray deer perhaps

or maybe an errant rabbit --

animals once dear to the heart

now swiftly sworn enemies.

How easily we pivot from love to hate!

How inscrutable the anger!

Once a tomato patch

now but bare bush.

Once wondrous creatures of God

now merely hateful foes.

And the clouds gather in the darkening sky

And the fearsome storm erupts

And the rain and thunder pummel the wailing earth

And the forest cowers in unfathomable fear.

Yet not one tomato in this forsaken world

can possibly equal even one precarious life.

(c) 2016 by Mike Maggio

Mike Maggio is a poet and fiction writer with seven works to his name and numerous publications in journals including The Northern Virginia Review, The L.A. Weekly and others. His eighth book, a novella entitled The Appointment, will be released in May 2017 by Vine Leave Press. He is an adjunct assistant-professor at Northern Virginia Community College, an associate editor of The Potomac Review and the Northern Regional Vice-President of the Poetry Society of Virginia. His web site if www.mikemaggio.net