There's Too Much Acid in the Ground

How proud was my father
Of his walnut trees!

My mother, “Why bother?”
The tomatoes won’t live! Please!

He loved to shell and hull.
The squirrels stole a few.

The tomatoes void and null,
She wanted them for beef stew.
“There’s too much acid in the ground!
Anyway, those nuts are too much work!”

He refused to cut them down.
(Knowing it drove her bezerk).

Years later, I came back.
Both trees had long since died.
Now, there’s seldom a lack
Of tomatoes: my mother’s pride.