Tuesday, June 02, 2009

seasons

we mark our seasons with changes
new menus for lunch and dinner
it’s the way we say goodbye
to strawberries and hello
to the tomatoes, who
show up only for summer

the blueberries are coming in
and both sweet corn and
sweet onions; this is the
season of vegetables,
and – oh, yes – peaches
but only for a short while

I can say with some certainty
I am not a vegetable
look at my calendar:
there is no sense of season
each week looks like the other
not that much changes

As I walk in my garden
and return, my hands
smelling like basil and sage,
I wonder how I grow and
ripen -- or if I do
without some season-ing

Peace,
Milton

4 comments:

Beth said...

Oh, I love this poem. So much.

I want to print it, frame it and put it in the kitchen.

Maybe I'll do that...

L.L. Barkat said...

Not late. Right on time. :) Hey, does that make you a seasonal poet?

Loved all the veggie images (and the peach... am partial to peaches!) I'm not sure I can say I'm not a vegetable. :)

SimplyDarlene said...

"I wonder how I grow and ripen"

For me, it's only when the Son-shines on my leaves...

Thank you for sharing.

sojourner said...

I liked the line of thought in this poem and it made me very hungry! (Reader beware do not read poems about food on an empty stomach!) This line: "or if I do
without some season-ing" carries alot of thought, life application, and metaphor for me. Thank you for sharing!