The Sky in Mourning
electrifies with shining grandeur
Sun delighting, orange and blue yea team!
The celebration continues
the birds happily flitting about
chattering their latest views
But other mornings are on slow
clouds veiling the sky
night time cold holding fast
refusing to let go
Only light through curtains
clouds draped in mourning
sad
Another dear one has passed
life’s highway ended
all engines stopped
no driver
deepening quiet
The hand shined steering wheels
unmoved, unmoving
paint on floorboards worn away’
by boots now at rest, done
we capture in music
that wraps our souls tightly
then loosens
then sets us free
bodies under sod
spirits rising, higher and higher
Mourning, this morning,
loss
but gain, the higher plane
joining the Light of the World
Selah, Lin, winter 2015
Gentlemen Farmers
a ‘farm community’
but it’s bigger than one might think
It stretches over farmers
no matter where their land
Soldiers have their trenches
where many a battle is fought
and those who lay the pipes and cables
and those who dig the footings
all are part of the soil
With farmers it is food
enabled by the soil
don’t you dare call it dirt
it’s mysterious and fascinating
we’re discovering more and more
Growing, producing food
is a noble call for certain
after air and water we need it
all the days of our lives
and here again come farmers
with ‘gentlemen’s agreements’
Their word their bond
a gift to all who work with them
Come trouble and they join together
putting their own work on hold
to help their neighbors
through thick and thin
amazing to behold
how they help each other
Gentlemen, and farmers
honoring each other and their families
teams in motion
working, praying, sustaining
themselves and multitudes of others
Selah, Lin March 2015
American farmers: 1 feeds 155
I believe…in miracles…
Me ‘n Grandpa
Me ‘n Grandpa are in the house
Basement, actually
Shiverin’ cold out in the barn
‘cept for the cow’s warm teats
But the huge coal furnace
wafted warmth all over the basement
toasting us before and after the shower
Sunday morning, routine as usual
church
Grandpa puttin on his blue suit
suspendered pants, but with a belt
uniform for church
Grandma all ready
colorful dress, perfume
ker choo!
My nose didn’t like perfume!
In the car
me drivin’
11 years old
but experienced
at 4 and 5 I earned my wings
settin’ on Grandpa’s lap
steering tractors and the big truck
By 7 I reached the pedals
Big guy now! Well, sorta!
But never a cause for worry
Grandpa gave me the reins
my drivin’ two miles to church!
Inside, the stained glass windows impressed-
what could those have cost?
Neighbor Salsbury paid the price’
for us to enjoy the art
the big pendulum clock, ticked away,
counting the seconds in that hour.
Assigned seats
I could find in the dark
eyes shut!
I knew where everyone parked
can still see their faces
Good, solid folk, farmin’ mostly
a banker and university folk exceptions
After church the Sunday dinner
Grandma at her best!
Fried chicken, mashed potatoes n gravy
corn and green beans and fruit from jars
Then the nap.
Me ‘n Grandpa on the floor
living room thick carpet
snoozing away for a little bit
waking to do the chores
Yup! Me ‘n Grandpa
living high
together
what a life!
Lin, remembering Sunday on the farm. Decembers past
The Beautiful Blanket
the beautiful living blanket
that feeds us amply
year after year
Beginning as beautiful ebony
it hold a living world
microbes, by the millions
scurrying about, we’re learning,
they do amazing things
Winter’s skin puts things on hold
sometimes wearing pristine white
sometimes hazy gray or tan
patience quietly abounds
Life bursts forth in springtime
shades of green, then purple
tillage takes it back to black
then tiny spikes poke up, corn,
or fat duos of soybean cotyledons unfold
and we’re off to the races again
emeralds sparkling in the dawn
dew on lush plants
drawing richness from the soil
Fall calls and shouts that winter’s coming
sure as sure can be
the gifts of summer’s sun await
the roar of farmer’s machines
Pouring into trucks and trains
even ocean ships line up
to share the bounty
food, for people
the beautiful blanket has given
Thank the Lord
for this creation
alive, and giving
not asking much
but to be respected, honored
carefully, thoughtfully tended
another gift to count, reflect about
Selah, Lin, the soil, 12/2014
Monsanto Doors
opening doors, Monsanto folk are real
Adventuring forward, looking backward
checking, checking, and checking again
Is this good? Is this okay? Is it better?
We’re talking food here
Young scientists, men and women
moms and dads
creme de la creme of scientists
abide in the labs, the greenhouses
putting ‘new’ in plots
then opening the doors
to a hungry world
today
even more so tomorrow
Should we create words that frighten
and tell stories from imagination?
Or should we discover
what has been created, gifted, to us?
Squanto taught the newcomers
G.W. Carver opened more doors
Borlaug ventured farther
Robb et al started a stampede
a good one
of unlocking more secrets of creation
Using knowledge to help us eat, sustain
Those of us with plenty
need to open our eyes
to those who open doors
and lead us forward
Lin, May, 2015
Robin in the Rain
Sitting on the garden fence
Perky as can be
rain peppering the patio rapidly
Sitting tall
rain sliding off her easily
she was thinking ‘earthworm’, I’ll bet!
As our rich black soil soaked it in
the loam will surface the worms
oh, fat and juicy!
Filet de earth!
made for each other?
Our farm is home to light touches
the master gardener grooms
planting, caring for certain areas
flowers and shrubs and even trees
each in turn flowering, coloring
blessing we humans who abide
welcoming those who have wings
Baltimore Orioles stop by
as many other species do
Just for a visit
just for their time
before winging on their ways
Each and every one is welcome
we enjoy their visits
it even seems sometimes
they note our happiness to see them
Tiny creatures, so vulnerable
yet surviving, multiplying
fluttering about with abandon
some planting themselves here
nesting
Ah, we’ve nested here!
Settled down
hustling waning
nap times expanding
more often ‘setting’
soaking it all in
Becoming more like
the robins in the rain!
Springtime on the farm 2015, Lin and Kay and Kate, for the birds!