The Tomato Seed
By: Joy Ortiz
A tomato seed, resilient and small,
Charted a course
through unforgiving circumstances.
Through unspeakable muck she
traveled,
Carried by the
unseen current, the cycle, the mess.
Where was she going? She knew not.
Covered in residual
sludge, she journeyed on
Till time brought an unexpected
question:
Could waste become
life? Redemption?
Into the process the tomato seed
went, trusting.
Chemical treatment,
separation, settling, and drying
Took her through what felt like dying.
Crying out to the
one who sees all, who holds all,
She clung to the hope of life, as
life
Crumbled around her.
Lifted once more by the unseen,
She rose, then fell again into a
heap…of what?
Compost, organic
waste, a fertile bed.
What once was waste had turned to
soil.
Clouds rolled across
the sky, thunder announcing
Life-giving rain. She soaked it in,
softening.
Could it be? Could
she grow? Tentatively, she reached
A root, spearing downward, a shoot,
pressing up,
Coaxed toward the
sunshine warmth above.
She broke ground. Up and up, the
tomato plant
Climbed into the
light and air, into the world.
She spread her leaves wide,
Catching the sun’s
rays as she sent yet more roots
Down into the nourishing earth,
Caressing the soil
which had borne her here.
Her arms grew heavy with fruit,
Carrying the burden
of flourishing.
Ripe with fullness of purpose, she
rejoiced.
Creator who sees,
Creator who knows,
All praise to the one who, in mercy,
Causes seeds to
grow.
