13 Tomatoes

We have grown...

13 tomatoes
just now I had to pause to count them
such a simple thing
to count
before now they were just "the tomatoes we'd grown"
but now they have a number

What can one do with 13 tomatoes?
it is no harvest
there are no words like 'yield'
or the noun 'produce'

In truth, these are ours
no one else will know them
or taste them

To our friends, who will never bother to count them
they'll say "I think I saw...
"I think I remember that ____ & _____ grew some tomatoes right, babe?"
"Maybe we could do that."

And as the Montana winter approaches
and the green too slowly turns to red
I cannot help but worry
that some will not make it in time
that only 11 will make their way onto small plates
at 2pm on a Sunday
just one cherry tomato
a treat for two
a blessing savored like none other
the opportunity to worship the smallest of things
deeply
one cherry tomato

And now I cannot help but wonder
at how many leaves ring the stalk of our Kale