mum had a little plush plum tomato

and into it she pressed

every small pin she had

till small silver stars were all you saw

and colored planets too

they clung like burrs upon its skin

 

i liked to hold it

small and soft with

places of immediacy

pressing into my palm

begging to be removed

 

and so I did…

one by one

steel shafts removed

but

I’d put ’em back again

I had to

couldn’t help it really

 

mum had things like this

things I would notice

insignificant things

that somehow won’t leave

their memory pressed deep

within my mind

like steel shafts

with silver star heads

and colored planets…