We hope you enjoy this months poems from The Three Tomatoes Poet Laureates.

Is Spring Really On The Way?

Can it be that the weather is actually changing,

That has affected my mind by rearranging,

All my thoughts from frigid cold to warm,

And enjoying nature’s blooming in sight and form?

When I shed the woolens, heavy winter threads,

I notice more bodies, hands and heads.

Looking up is so much better today,

Then lowering my face, keeping the cold winds away,

Protected from the damage they often do in a day.

I love the summer, anticipating scents of roses in bloom,

Or the sweet smell of freshly mowed grass quite soon,

To be alive, to live yet another season,

Is such a gift and a truly wonderful reason,

To thank God, any way you are able,

I will do it by bringing food to a dear friend’s table,

Perhaps cream cheese, lox and the freshest, tastiest bagel.

Oh, for the simple pleasures in a complicated life!!

~Carol Ostrow, author of Poems from My Pandemic Pen

April 1, 2021

The yellow of the daffodils

and the bush whose species’ name

I do not know

are screaming brightly at me.

It’s like looking directly into the sun.

The intense color

is radiating a glow,

illuminating the park

on an overcast drizzly day,

like a fierce firework

shooting into the night sky.

I think of April

and know the world thinks of

rote cherry blossoms.

Pink is the draw

but this yellow surprises

and energizes me.

I do not see caution,

I am infused

with jump and skip.

~ Nicole Freezer Rubens, author of The Long Pause and the Short Breath…Poems & Photos & Reflections on New York City’s Pandemic

Not the Way You Imagined

Together everything is easier
But it won’t be easy
Find a way to make it look like it is
Especially when everybody is looking
Who really cares if they are talking because you can’t control what they think and say
They need to self edit and self control
Just know your heart and soul
There are surprises along with moments that will become memories
You will reach for them when they are needed on rainy and stormy days
Winter does come during the Summer so be ready though you can never be sure but be sure of each other
Not the way you imagined but incredible just the same
Choose your love carefully and only be crazy for your one and only

~Madlyn Epstein Steinhart, author of Put Your Boots on and Dance in the Rain

The Mirror

I see a woman who has been through a lot

Impossible to tell what just by looking

But it’s all there

I see the years, no way to erase them

But I see a youthful spirit

That will outlast the present

I see endurance

I see determination

And also, possibilities

I see a woman who has lived a life

And still has more to live

Age is meaningless

I see a woman unafraid to try new things

Who’ll pick herself up and start again

Obstacles are meant to be overcome

I see a future

Unknown

But ever hopeful

I see patience

Not confusion or lack of understanding

Or questions

And now

It’s time for answers

Not questions

~ Stephanie Sloane, author of Dear Me: Poems of Loss, Grief, and Hope in New York’s Darkest Days