Karina Borowicz

Autumn has arrived as we begin harvesting the vegetables we carefully planted in early Spring.

Here’s a poem by Karina Borowicz (born October 30, 1993), author of “Rosetta” (2021), winner of the Ex Ophidia Poetry Prize; “Proof” (2014), winner of the Codhill Poetry Award; and “The Bees Are Waiting” (2012), winner of the Marick Press Poetry Prize.

September Tomatoes

The whiskey stink of rot has settled
in the garden, and a burst of fruit flies rises
when I touch the dying tomato plants.

Still, the claws of tiny yellow blossoms
flail in the air as I pull the vines up by the roots
and toss them in the compost.

It feels cruel. Something in me isn’t ready
to let go of summer so easily. To destroy
what I’ve carefully cultivated all these months.
Those pale flowers might still have time to fruit.

My great-grandmother sang with the girls of her village
as they pulled the flax. Songs so old
and so tied to the season that the very sound
seemed to turn the weather.

--Karina Borowicz