My garden is not yet wholly in, and already the brassicas are riddled with root maggots, that old pest from last year raging up again. Ignore it, ignore it, I foolishly did last summer, and the maggots have returned in force. I’ll yank the plants, unable to see their slow wither and rot, these former beauties I seeded and tended.
But the tomatoes flourish.
MY LITTLE CHERRY TOMATO PLANT
You will grow my little ones
You will rise my tiny ones
Into a bush then a tree
And to the sky, you will be free!
You will be ever green and spark
You will be tallest than the sea’s shark
Your tomatoes with the green leaves
Like Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve
You will be sweet my little plant
I love you always I shall grant
So rest my fellow, breath fresh air
Sleep now, rest and grow ever Fair!
–– Maya Took