Based on the recipe from the wonderful cookbook: “Simply in Season”
Summer will boil and blister us
But the bounty and the bliss
Will bolster us.
One beefsteak-size tomato (peeled)
The size of a hand holding seeds
Ready to let them drop past pinky
Into the spring soil
Now pushing up fragrant
Weighing heavy and supple on the vine.
Place in a colander and pour boiling water over our precious fruit
Soon to let skin peel like the reddened sunburn
Tender and wet below.
One cup sour cream or plain yogurt
The cool tang of kindness
Of mammalian mothers’ teet.
Grow strong, you.
Be in all the sweetness I have to give you.
See that you are well cultured.
Six basil leaves
What herb is a more jovial saint?
With only enough sharp bitterness
To assure that this decadence is no dream.
Dash of salt and pepper
The yang and yin of all seasons.
Those whose grace and mild manners
Stand aside, hold the door, and say:
By all means, after you. It would be my pleasure.
Purée in a blender until smooth
Blend, like the real promise of America;
That every part be present,
Every spoonful bear the taste of unity,
The robustness of the whole
Boasting of every merged contribution
For the sake of goodness
And the pure pleasure of vitality.
Serve cold
Like revenge that’s transcended
Take relief from the ambient fever of it all
And with your coolness
Snuff the heat that oppresses.
