The Screaming Of The Corn Poem by Allan Thorne

The summer was long
The summer was hot
The summer was dry

Days passed with
Not a cloud in the sky
And we had to water.

Everything that didn’t get water died.
The lawn dried up and blew away.

But the tomatoes grew and grew
And gave wave after wave
Of ruby red fruit.

We ate tomatoes until our gums were sore
Than gave the rest away
Only to find,
come morning yet more.

The pumpkin vines grew across the yard
When the cat walked by
The tendrils rose up
Like snakes and hissed menacingly.

We ate corn every day for a week
until the snap beans over powered
the corn stalks
breaking them down
Under the weight
Of fruit
And then we ate beans
And beans
And beans.

And the zucchini! ! !
The fruit grew right in front of our eyes
Not even waiting for the decency of night.
To veil it’s obscene, priapic swelling.

At night we prayed of the coming frost
And an end to this riotous fecundity.
But our dreams were filled with
feverish images of
Zucchini as big as zeppelins
Tomatoes the size of houses
And the screaming of the corn.