Okay, Zucchini,
with your sleek Sicilian good looks—
I know all about you and the rest
of the Zucca family, how you start out
small, in the corner of some
respectable old giardino (nobody
even notices) and then you spread,
don't you, till you've moved in on
all the little guys, the beans
and the carrots and cukes,
and pretty soon you're in charge
of the whole damn fattoria, right?
Well, I've got news for you, pal,
you're past your prime. You're ripe
to spend the rest of your natural life
in the cooler. Think I'm kidding?
Listen, either play along or it's
        Ratatouille! Ratatouille!
—a year in the jug for you, Zuke.
And your little tomato, too.

© by Marilyn L. Taylor.
Used with the author's permission.