Corn King and Queen
A fascinating plant
Maize, or corn
The tassel high on top
in its time throwing pollen
Light but loaded, floating down to…
Just in time the silks
Little tubes in waiting
each to carry a single pollen grain
in to a special place
an egg in waiting
The two become one, and a kernal is born
Anchored just so, to a life sustaining spot
Protected very well in a hidden place
beneath blankets called shucks
500 kernals grow
each one loaded with genes
each gene a particular, specific fellow
with work to do, in a team
Maybe the tassel is the kingly crown
but it wouldn’t be much
without the ear, the queen!
Together they really are something
From one colonel, er, kernal,
and one egg, a queen
500 children of mom and dad!
Maize, or corn
The tassel high on top
in its time throwing pollen
Light but loaded, floating down to…
Just in time the silks
Little tubes in waiting
each to carry a single pollen grain
in to a special place
an egg in waiting
The two become one, and a kernal is born
Anchored just so, to a life sustaining spot
Protected very well in a hidden place
beneath blankets called shucks
500 kernals grow
each one loaded with genes
each gene a particular, specific fellow
with work to do, in a team
Maybe the tassel is the kingly crown
but it wouldn’t be much
without the ear, the queen!
Together they really are something
From one colonel, er, kernal,
and one egg, a queen
500 children of mom and dad!
Whew!
Think about that!
And the tiny mustard seed
that grows into a small tree!
Now think about the super ‘weeds’
that throw off 600,000 to a million seeds!
Secrets to unlock!
What are we waiting for?
Prepare, study, learn, discover!
We know so much
We know so little
And we get too soon old
and too late smart!
Smile…
and think about it
Think about a sunrise, a sunset
and offer praise
to the Creator
Selah, Lin, Harvest 2014
Think about that!
And the tiny mustard seed
that grows into a small tree!
Now think about the super ‘weeds’
that throw off 600,000 to a million seeds!
Secrets to unlock!
What are we waiting for?
Prepare, study, learn, discover!
We know so much
We know so little
And we get too soon old
and too late smart!
Smile…
and think about it
Think about a sunrise, a sunset
and offer praise
to the Creator
Selah, Lin, Harvest 2014
Enormity
Rain rest election day 2014
I’m on it.
Judges sit in a row
My name is on the scroll
In the book of life political
I’m in!
I’m on it.
Judges sit in a row
My name is on the scroll
In the book of life political
I’m in!
Two pages of issues
Candidates
4 billion spent
Gone
Darken the circle
Darken the doors
Be there
I show up once
Winners show up for years
2,4,6,8
Who will we appreciate
For jobs done well?
Around the world
It’s not done this way
The right to vote’s
Been written in blood
The ability to choose
Is ours
It’s not done this way
The right to vote’s
Been written in blood
The ability to choose
Is ours
The enormity staggers me.
I make my marks
So the candidates can make theirs…
Selah Lin “I voted!” 2014
Grand Grace
Dark plus 2
I walked to my nearby truck
the prairie was quiet
after a day of roaring harvest machines
The sky was bright with stars
more than I could ever count
what a display of span
so grand I stood held fast
I was standing on the soil
in a field my great grandpa farmed a hundred years ago
I’ll bet he stood under those same stars
and was also held fast
same as I
I walked to my nearby truck
the prairie was quiet
after a day of roaring harvest machines
The sky was bright with stars
more than I could ever count
what a display of span
so grand I stood held fast
I was standing on the soil
in a field my great grandpa farmed a hundred years ago
I’ll bet he stood under those same stars
and was also held fast
same as I
And my grandpa too!
Same soil, same field, same stars,
he would have gazed and been struck
at the beauty, the wonder of it all
Same soil, same field, same stars,
he would have gazed and been struck
at the beauty, the wonder of it all
And my dad, who farmed the same field
stood on the same soil
and after dark some harvest night
would have stood under those same stars
God’s grace is everywhere
above us
all round us
our challenge is to stop
look
and soak it in
Selah, Lin night harvest sky on the prairie, 2014
Shifting Gears
The farm, well mechanized,
has lots of tires, lots of motors,
and lots of shifting transmissions,
shifting gears
As seasons shift
so must we
to match our efforts
to changing tasks
Winter has us pondering
computing and thinking
How to make the numbers work
Changing prices, inputs and outcomes,
somehow we need more ‘leftover’
more income than outgo
So we make our plans
and launch
Into springtime
the glorious bursting forth of life
of seeds into mothering soil
of plants growing like crazy
and war against weeds, insects and disease
Shifting gears, summer slides in
more sun, warmer sun
summer rains just in time
and preparing for harvest
has lots of tires, lots of motors,
and lots of shifting transmissions,
shifting gears
As seasons shift
so must we
to match our efforts
to changing tasks
Winter has us pondering
computing and thinking
How to make the numbers work
Changing prices, inputs and outcomes,
somehow we need more ‘leftover’
more income than outgo
So we make our plans
and launch
Into springtime
the glorious bursting forth of life
of seeds into mothering soil
of plants growing like crazy
and war against weeds, insects and disease
Shifting gears, summer slides in
more sun, warmer sun
summer rains just in time
and preparing for harvest
Shed doors fly open
and machines roar to life
House sized machines come out
groomed for enormous tasks
of devouring, sifting and sorting
and delivering the goods
and machines roar to life
House sized machines come out
groomed for enormous tasks
of devouring, sifting and sorting
and delivering the goods
Once again long hours
workers glued to seats
Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen hour days
before sun up, to after sun down
with better and better lights
and machines that guide by satellite
yet need our eyes and ears
Seasons of shifting gears
decades of doing it better
more efficiently
more productively
What a privilege we have
with freedom and capitalism
to study hard, earn, and return
giving thanks
Time to shift our gears
it is, indeed, Thanksgiving time!
Selah, Lin 2014
Rainy Daze
Days of rain during harvest
give us a time to rest
But all too quickly we begin to wonder
“Where’s the sun?”
We peer at the darkened, cloudy sky
and wish for the warming, drying sun
So critical for harvest happening
Rain storms pass by
with wind, lightning and thunder
as we watch, helpless
the cornstalks jerk and lean
heavy ears at risk
Hang on!
Don’t twist and turn and break!
give us a time to rest
But all too quickly we begin to wonder
“Where’s the sun?”
We peer at the darkened, cloudy sky
and wish for the warming, drying sun
So critical for harvest happening
Rain storms pass by
with wind, lightning and thunder
as we watch, helpless
the cornstalks jerk and lean
heavy ears at risk
Hang on!
Don’t twist and turn and break!
Truth be told
the sun is there
just waiting above the earthbound clouds
the clouds will rush away
and the sun will work again
So wait, uh, patiently!
That’s so hard!
Get ready, to run and pounce
work and laugh and share
Savor
The earth comes with seasonings!
Selah, Lin, harvest 2014
the sun is there
just waiting above the earthbound clouds
the clouds will rush away
and the sun will work again
So wait, uh, patiently!
That’s so hard!
Get ready, to run and pounce
work and laugh and share
Savor
The earth comes with seasonings!
Selah, Lin, harvest 2014
Tween Rows
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