Ode To Farming

A Hawai‘i boy spends an autumn weekend farming in Wisconsin
Replaces fence posts, pulls tree stumps using chains and a tractor
Cuts brush and collects dead branches for winter fire wood
Is thankful there’s no more milking of cows by hand
Stops to take a smoke break in the middle of a field
Hears a woman yell to come out before he sets the place on fire
Does three days’ hard work then heads back to school
Knows hitting-the-book exhaustion can’t match farming fatigue
Years later now he looks back to that time on the farm
Sees it as valuable for growth as all the reading he’s done
Remembers those three days like a movie in his mind
Knows he’ll never forget them while his memory holds
Can still feel the weight of those chores in his hands
Treasures lessons like these that stay with him through time