when the harvest is ripe
to the task, oriented
The friends arrive
and set to the task
harvest, 2011
Wave after wave
they work
running the big machines
pouring grain into trucks
and into bins
food for the many
fuel for some
and fiber for others
The farm population swells
ever so briefly
as corn fields signal
breezes waving the tall summer bronzed stalks
slipping away the kernels
against the coming winter
Long days in the fields
machines laboring hour after hour
the men and women cling to their tasks
until the last fruits are captured
stored
O dark thirty finds the folks
gathered at harvest tables
bowls of food passing
events of the day shared
feet under the tables
true friends
sharing the fuel for tomorrow
and tomorrow
field after field
yielding the fruits of labors
challenges met and conquered
moving on
The day comes for parting hugs
and quiet comes to the farm
Peace, after the hurried days
rest
the season past
The planting and the harvest
and again the soil, the sun, the rain, the farmers have communed
Nature, and nature’s God again have blessed
hunger pushed back another year
The friendly tidal waves
have been here
and the golden sun sets again
slipping away towards winter
When peace, like a river,
attends our way
and we reflect
it has been good…
again…
Selah, lin, harvest 2011
to Bruce and Linda Koe, who ride the friendly tidal waves