Poetry of Issue #8        Page 38

Nightshade

Tomatoes are nightshade
Toxins have been lurking in our salad
My friend pointed out dark berries
Deadly Nightshade, she said
The fruit of malicious desserts
The tomatoes of pupil dilation
Each restaurant serves red half-moons
That taste like gravelly ice

Nightshade berries taste like love, my friend said
Someone tired of a spouse could make
A fabulous dinner, luring their former beloved
Into another kind of bed

For seven year olds who want to make poison
There are antidotes on kitchen shelves
The children eat tomatoes for lunch at school
Though no one goes home sick

Everyone has wanted to poison someone sometime