Behind A Can Of Tomato Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

Behind a can of tomato
are the fingers of the sun
and the tears of rainfall
that make tomatoes grow.

Behind a can of tomato -
we buy less than a euro
are the bloody fingers
of the tomato workers.

Stranded on the beach
of Lampedusa on their flight
from hunger and war,
here they feed us by
their unrewarded labor.

Living in tents of
cardboard boxes,
they live and thrive
near the tomato fields
hoping another boat
will take them to a
better place under the
shining sun and the
crying rain.

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September 15,2015