Summer Love Affair

Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder

I have lusted

For their red flesh

Plump, sun-warmed,

Sliced, with salt

Alchemy in the kitchen

Where I love to create

Sauces, & sumptuous complexities

And my famous Goddess salsa

Tomatoes have been a life-long love affair.

I was told I had to break up with them,

Dangerous, insidious nightshades,

I rejected them to heal my gut

Is my abstinence from my love permanent?

Is my healing journey endless?

When I reached a healing plateau,

I gratefully approached my long-lost love

I tasted the juicy flesh like never before

Appreciation and euphoria at our reunion.

Until something is lost,

It seems we don’t treasure it.

But maybe tomatoes are not my true love…

Struggling again with inflammation,

I’m once again abstinent.

Content to be solo this time, though.