Horses chose corn row widths
way back when
The horse’s rump determined the gap
to allow the horse and farmer passage
Over the years things change
and others stay the same
We’ve gone from 40 down to 30
and some even down to 20
as machines replaced the horse’s hinny
the goal to capture sunlight
a skill in which the corn leaves excel
Corn becomes a forest
lush and dense as any jungle
except the rows make pathways
used by man and beasties
The farmer checks his corn
walking, stopping , studying
sometimes even with a lens
noting bugs and diseases thievery
pollination and yield guesses
Then comes fall
Harvest
Giant harvesters house sized moving
devouring
Eight and twelve rows wide swaths
twenty or thirty feet paths
back and forth they go
sifting, sorting, down to the seeds
the treasures of food, fuel and fiber
that makes it all worthwhile
way back when
The horse’s rump determined the gap
to allow the horse and farmer passage
Over the years things change
and others stay the same
We’ve gone from 40 down to 30
and some even down to 20
as machines replaced the horse’s hinny
the goal to capture sunlight
a skill in which the corn leaves excel
Corn becomes a forest
lush and dense as any jungle
except the rows make pathways
used by man and beasties
The farmer checks his corn
walking, stopping , studying
sometimes even with a lens
noting bugs and diseases thievery
pollination and yield guesses
Then comes fall
Harvest
Giant harvesters house sized moving
devouring
Eight and twelve rows wide swaths
twenty or thirty feet paths
back and forth they go
sifting, sorting, down to the seeds
the treasures of food, fuel and fiber
that makes it all worthwhile
Little critturs scurry, tween rows,
running along in the pathways
stopping and looking
“Here it comes!”
running further and further
between the rows
not able to think or see
safety is to the side
oh so close
they stay between the rows
Are we, like them
too often just tween the rows
not thinking, seeing
better ways, safety?
Are we following some long gone rump
instead of turning left or right?
Ah, tis easier
to follow the path
some ho hum horse trod
that became a human highway
and we don’t even know why
Lin, harvest 2014
following a rabbit tween rows
thinking about the tension between: sports and scholarship
running along in the pathways
stopping and looking
“Here it comes!”
running further and further
between the rows
not able to think or see
safety is to the side
oh so close
they stay between the rows
Are we, like them
too often just tween the rows
not thinking, seeing
better ways, safety?
Are we following some long gone rump
instead of turning left or right?
Ah, tis easier
to follow the path
some ho hum horse trod
that became a human highway
and we don’t even know why
Lin, harvest 2014
following a rabbit tween rows
thinking about the tension between: sports and scholarship