This is my random acts of kindness poem, The Day You Threw Tomatoes on My Lawn. When we’re in a dark place, we often don’t understand the things people do for us. It’s only looking back that we understand their meaning and value.

The Day You Threw Tomatoes on My Lawn

I now twig why you laid perfectly edible tomatoes on my lawn a few days before Christmas, the day’s cold and discomfort mirroring the looming death of me, only to be lifted and lit up by those bright red, seed-filled tomatoes.

the blades of grass, pressed upon by heavy drops of rain, bent by relentless winds and dirty boots, no longer a refuge for insects and worms. Sadly, many died, not even the red shine could save them.

Gazing through salty lashes, I saw your tomatoes and wondered who may have known of the blood and tears and deaths. Months I spent on all fours until you came along and removed my lifeless body. We never spoke about the big, red, juicy tomatoes.

Instead, we ate bitter brown rice every day, tinged with a tell-tale taste of tomato and time, managing to make me stand. The tomato seeds and the grains of bitter brown rice, salt, and sand gave rise to an endless red horizon, garnished with lavish green leaves.

I now twig why you lay perfectly edible tomatoes on my lawn a few days before Christmas, the red light now breaks the cold / no longer mirroring my discomfort

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