Simply Not Just Another Salad

"The tomato warm from the garden bed,
juicy and full of seeds,
a woman ripe for love.
The onion make it sweet and lingering—
adulterous kisses,
darkness at noon.
Dashes of salt,
a taste of the source,
the seas coming in at the window.
A full blessing of oil
—the fruity olives pressed by monks chanting a cappella
the earthenware jugs stored in cool cellars,
mellowing.
The basil leaves, spicy and fragrant
—a lover's fingers.
You cannot make too much of this.
And when it's gone...its memory will,
in barren winter,
be like the small hot flame of a love letter
read in secret."

Dolores Stewart (Riccio)
(from Doors to the Universe)