Fields stretch on forever past my house,
the tractor now a dusty ant
in morning light.
But the day after,
promises enough
of the god-sent recipe
to begin the effort
of planting.

We’ll pick strawberries
in June and July.
Tomatoes plucked
in late July and August
and some later
than that.

The fields were manured
last fall,
mounds of steam
ready to explode
and dried
to cultivate.

The corn should grow as high
as an elephant’s eye
as wheat turns golden.
It’s an all-day job
but there’s time
after a hard day of farming.

When the rain comes,
we scurry
to other friends,
go to 4-H meetings
or to the other busy
farmer families
having a party
to salute the rain,
or a trip to town.