Friday, July 9, 2010

Vine Ripened Tomatoes

 

Ripe and sweet, you plucked my heart from the vine
With promise of a life of perfect summer days.
Rich crimson -- the fruit is sliced,
slashed -- its seeds splayed on paper plates.

In fall, memory of that summer shines
in the faces of children who play,
slowly ripening; our tangled vines
threatening to trip small bare feet.

Winter makes me wonder
what might have been
had you left me there
to ripen further on the vine.



This was written in response to the picture above from Magpie Tales.  Write your own and click here to leave a link.

19 comments:

Suz said...

holy moly that was goood!
I wish I had written it....very nice writing

Helen said...

We'll never know what might have happened ~ no tomato goes uneaten! Great Magpie!

Kathe W. said...

mmmm nicely done!

Brian Miller said...

tight write. that last stanza is very telling....great magpie!

Tumblewords: said...

Very nice - love the imagery!

Gemma Wiseman said...

A powerful first line! "Plucking my heart from the vine" sounds so dramatic! A sense of wistful melancholy in the last stanaza is appealing!

Stafford Ray said...

You did the three seasons so well... tomatoes or people. Unpicked tomatoes drop seeds and are renewed in the spring, but people? You left it hanging and got us thinking.

RNSANE said...

Wonderful thought provoking poem, especially
the last verse...what if?

Unknown said...

Wow, love it well done

ninotaziz said...

Slashed -- its seeds splayed on paper plates.

Vivid.

Carrie Van Horn said...

Such great metaphors in this! Truly a wonderful poem! :-)

Anonymous said...

simply beautiful!

Paul C said...

Lots of love and passion here.

Catalyst said...

Nicely written!

RA said...

A great Magpie! I love the door to further imagery you open at the end. :)

Gabriela Abalo said...

a very fresh Magpie.

well done!

loveNlight
Gabi

Tess Kincaid said...

Wonderful! I often wonder the same thing.

Lyn said...

To ripen further..wonderful..thank you...

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

sweet poem.
lovely images!
welcome to a tomato feast in my place.