Rutabagas

The first frost snapped summer shut.
I know to let a few frosts kiss the rutabagas
to make them sweeter but could I have collected
the leaves last night before the shards
of ice crystals sliced through their cell walls
leaving them limp on the ground?

You always
knew about the brassica.

How & when
to harvest these plants that thrive in cool
weather limbo, the place between winter
& deep freeze.

This year
the harvest feels like gathering the dead.
Pickling feels like embalming. I collect
the dollars from the honesty box
at the end of the driveway.
The rain
has come. The tomatoes are already ruined:
swollen with water, the sides split open to find
rot.