Too Much Like Birds • Jude Roy

Birdlike, the three blond haired, blue-eyed children
Cast sharp glances at the tomato plants
Looking for the green and white-striped hornworms.
They pry the fat treasures from the leaves
And squish their tomato-green guts into the dark soil
With bare brown feet.

Their reward for finding a hornworm is
One fat red tomato straight from
The refrigerator. They bite into the fruit
And tomato guts dribble
From their chins like blood.