my partner is having a fling
this summer
with tomatoes

a red heirloom
we are sharing
is gradually disappearing
slice by slice
on the cutting board

this morning i ate a slice
on toasted Italian bread
with her homemade hummus
that tastes how i love her

i fell backward
into my childhood summers

when mom would slice
tomatoes warm from the garden
and serve with scrambled eggs

or we’d make tomato sandwiches
on Sunbeam thin slice white bread
coated in Duke’s mayonnaise

our cutting board
will be empty soon

or another tomato
will start to disappear
slice by slice

you cannot return to childhood
or freeze time
during a summer fling
with tomatoes

this is how we live,
this is how we die

—P.L. Thomas