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A Burning Summer On a Southern Farm

A Burning Summer On A Southern Farm Where muddy fields converge and unadorned yards meet Afternoon sun crawls toward burnt out flowerbeds Too poor, no air conditioning, to thwart this stifling heat Even worse when sweating all night in our hot beds Southern farm life in the sixties was hell for kids that were poor Children worked fields , and still had not enough food to eat Thoughts of better future days and finding a golden door Were met with hunger, shame and spirits lost in epic defeat; What hope can thrive with those having no daily bread Or the children shamed for the poverty in which they live Is it shocking that some thought, I'd be better off dead Or that this cruel world punishes and never forgives? Where muddy fields converge and unadorned yards meet Too poor, no air conditioning, to thwart this stifling heat. R. J. Lindley, August 1977 ( Hope is often all one has left) Note, August 1977-- This I once lived in my youth and such can never be forgotten.. I have left and I will never live on a farm again.

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Darlene De Beaulieu

Date: 1/26/2018 1:58:00 PM

I did not like the way this poem portrayed this poem.Because the cruel worl never forgives. Have a nice day my friend.

Darlene De Beaulieu
Date: 1/26/2018 1:59:00 PM

curle world.

Akkina Downing

Date: 1/24/2018 7:15:00 PM

Awe, that does sound roughed. When I was kid, I used to want to go to my grandparents farm and other relatives farms because they had so many fruits and greens and flowers and I used to think when I grow up I will have my own farm just like theirs. Lol! Never thought it wasn't as easy as a kid imagined... A very wonderful write Rob! I enjoyed the read...hugs and smiles :)

Robert Lindley
Date: 1/24/2018 9:34:00 PM

Thank you my friend. I am glad you were spared such harsh times. I vowed to never live on or do farm work ever again. A solemn vow that I have kept for over 40 years now.

Demetrios Trifiatis

Date: 1/24/2018 9:25:00 AM

Robert my friend, nature may sometimes be unforgiving! I have lived the first twelve years in a small village and lived from the land so I can relate to your agonizing but beautiful writing! God bless you m friend!

Robert Lindley
Date: 1/24/2018 9:31:00 PM

Thank you my friend. I have great respect for any hat have lived and worked the hard labor on a farm. Especially if done before the modern machinery made it much easier to do.

Mike Gentile

Date: 1/24/2018 8:10:00 AM

A brutal portrait you've painted here so vividly, Robert, a sad and very well expressed write!

Robert Lindley
Date: 1/24/2018 9:02:00 AM

Thank you my friend. Yes it was truly brutal but we survived and later flourished by working hard at jobs that had nothing to do with farm work. I can see the negative from suffering that much as children but also see that it made each of us much ,much stronger as adults. And in my case having that greater strength has been the very thing that has kept me alive, on more than one occasion..... Not that I'd wish such childhood sufferings upon others..

Connie Marcum Wong

Date: 1/24/2018 2:08:00 AM

I can relate Robert, about all of it. You described the disdain of the sweltering heat and hard times of being poor perfectly! Bravo! I loved this piece! : )

Robert Lindley
Date: 1/24/2018 8:56:00 AM

My friend, I am truly sorry that you too suffered such. This is one from my private journal and I am always hesitant about sharing that body of personal poems. Very glad that you liked it so my friend...

Charlie Smith

Date: 1/23/2018 3:22:00 PM

Sad to work so hard for so little, well done Robert...

Robert Lindley
Date: 1/24/2018 8:54:00 AM

Thank you my friend. Always I remember such great childhood hardships and how tho' extremely tough , they forged who I am today.

Arturo Michael

Date: 1/23/2018 12:05:00 PM

A big impact it had on you...but a definite reference to a reality that many still suffer...All the best Robert

Robert Lindley
Date: 1/24/2018 8:52:00 AM

Thank you my friend. Yes , it truly was a sad nd brutal reality but we survived and it made all of us much stronger methinks. Much more caring of the plight of others. And that is a blessing my friend..

Keith O.J. Hunt

Date: 1/23/2018 10:47:00 AM

A brilliant write Robert, it has great appeal to me since I was raised on a farm, at the end of the day you know you earned every piece of daily bread for all the toil; we were fortunate with food, paying the bills on the other hand was a different story; sad, since farmers feed cities...a fave;-)

Robert Lindley
Date: 1/24/2018 8:45:00 AM

Thank you my friend. True, you earned every penny of your pay and often the ten times over that you, which never got paid. Glad you were fortunate my friend and had better living conditions,as I would not wish what we once endured upon any man, woman or child. I swore to never live or ever work on a farm again. A vow I have kept.

Silent One

Date: 1/23/2018 9:53:00 AM

I am sure farms are different now my friend, they have changed over time, I think they have had to.. A well written poem, could be a sonnet..

Robert Lindley
Date: 1/24/2018 8:38:00 AM

Thank you my friend. Yes, farm work now is not as brutal as it was over 50 years ago, that thanks to advanced machinery. Yet once one has lived it, even if that is in the past --they never forget it nor can they shake many of the negative things being poor, hungry and still working long and extremely hard days does to a person. I am truly thankful to have escaped but others are enduring such even now.