~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Dave Malone

Arkansas Travelers

The tomatoes never budge.

But day after day like skunk kits, they grow

more plump, as if during the night

they gorged on moths and ants

or used radish bulbs to pump iron.

As for me, I do simple things.

Yank out venomous weeds by the root.

Sprinkle magical grass clippings for mulch.

Water. Cry when first fruits blush pink

at their bellies. Stroke them head to toe.

Pick them when they say so. Press bodies

to my nose, inhale their singular spicy scent.

Whisper to them what their ancestors

gave me and my family.

Dave Malone is a poet and screenwriter from the Missouri Ozarks. His most recent poetry collection is Bypass (Kelsay Books, 2023). A previous contributor to the Delta Poetry Review, he has also had poems featured on NPR and published in Boudin, Fourteen Hills, and Red Rock Review.