“A poem about death and tomatoes” by Maria Giesbrecht
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets' daily poetry dispatch. Read "A poem about death and tomatoes" by Maria Giesbrecht, winner of the 2025 Lesley Strutt Poetry Prize.
A poem about death and tomatoes
By Maria Giesbrecht
The plants in my garden reach
for the torso of the deck—a skeleton
of cedar. Something dead holds
something alive. The saddest story
we can tell. And Father’s eyes
were first romas, then oozing beefsteaks—
in ten years:
heirlooms. Two wild,
red things we’ll never forget.
Copyright © Maria Giesbrecht
Winner of the 2025 Lesley Strutt Poetry Prize.
Maria Giesbrecht is a Canadian poet whose writings explore her Mexican and Mennonite roots. Her work has previously appeared or is forthcoming in The Literary Review of Canada, Queen's Quarterly, CV2, Grain, and Canadian Literature. She won the 2025 Jack McCarthy award and was a finalist in the 2025 Narrative Poetry contest. Her debut collection, A LITTLE FERAL, is forthcoming in 2026 with Write Bloody Publishing. mariagiesbrecht.com
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