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Farming at My Feet
Editor’s
note: David
Williamson is a professional sculptor, poet and speaker from
Ogden, Iowa. He spoke at the Region III Conference in Iowa in June. I’m
pleased to share with you this one of his poems. I hope it brings back
good memories for you, as it did for me, and makes you realize what an
important role the farm has played, and continues to play, in our
lives.
He’s farming at my feet.
The operations cease during school hours;
but the return of the yellow bus
signals a kind of sunrise and the return to work
for idle augers, discs, feed grinders,
and tractors that I’ve tripped over all day.
They’ve sat motionless on the fields of plywood subfloor
and an occasional plot of throw rug.
But now, the owner-operator is back;
and work needs to be done
before the twilight of supper settles in . . .
and an evening of television stars twinkle
in a night sky viewed through an electric window.
But he’s farming now at
my feet.
As real as this activity is for him,
it must be me whose head is in the clouds
as I move through the house and peer down
at the miniature activities taking place on the floor level.
Empty vinyl milk cartons will hold the grain he has harvested,
and his seed-corn cap announces the current favorite.
He’s farming at my feet,
in a world he’s created
out of Christmas presents, birthday gifts,
and an occasional reward for a good report card.
Tomorrow morning,
after he stands in the mirror and brushes his flattop,
he’ll come over to hug me good-bye
a few inches higher than he could reach last year.
I understand what all this farming is producing.
I have a son who’s no taller than a ditch weed
yet whose eyes are on elevations much higher
than the September corn around our home . . .
And he’s going to get there
Farming . . . at my feet.
© 1999
David Williamson
(used by permission)
Photo:
Richard Folkers is the 13-month old son of Dean Folkers
and Jennifer Conway. Dean is the Teacher Services Team Leader
at the National FFA Organization in Indianapolis, Indiana; Dean’s
spouse, Jennifer, is president of Conway Communications, also located
in Indianapolis.
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