We wait for the blue tractor,
tomatoes ready, muscles primed.
Pelting the driver with old fruit
is October's looked-for
bit of casual humour;
after all, winter's coming down the chute.
With unholy nights and nothing
to savour bar the twelve days of Christmas;
pelting the driver with old fruit
is a ritual we're not too old
to honour, nor too crusty -
after all, winter's coming down the chute.
All year we've laboured in the rows
picking and trimming, and vice-versa;
pelting the driver with old fruit
will justify the boredom
our bosses have inflicted -
after all, winter's coming down the chute.
We wait for the blue tractor -
and its chugging never disappoints.
Pelting the driver with old fruit
is our requiem for summer
(it crowns the glory of our harvest)
after all, winter's coming down the chute.