A Farmer By Trade

He worked on the land, a farmer by trade.
He never will know the impact he made.

When plowing the fields, his mind would be filled 
with lessons in life he taught and instilled. 
“Life’s pretty simple” my grandpa would claim, 
“The rules we should live by are always the same.” 
He delivered his thoughts in a wry kind of style. 
You’d think he was mad, but then he would smile. 

He was always profound, a man of his word. 
He would always look forward despite what occurred. 
“I’ve never reaped anything I didn’t first sow. 
The seeds that you plant is the crop that will grow. 
Fix your eyes on a spot, if you want to plow straight. 
If you need to start over, it’s never too late.” 

One thing I remember, he often would share, 
“Don’t tear down a fence, ‘til you know why it’s there. 
Some fences are built to keep danger away, 
some fences are built so we’ll know where to stay.” 
His philosophy in life was to, “Let people be.
I’m not here to judge, lest they should judge me.”

“Some things are better off left on the ground, 
manure doesn’t stink ‘til you stir it around.” 
The best thing he taught me was how I could find 
the answer to anything crossing my mind. 
Whatever I’d ask him, he’d get out the Book, 
saying, “God wrote it down, if you take time to look.”

He understood things that few understand.
A farmer by trade, he worked on the land.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2010

Poem

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Culverhouse Avatar
August 8, 2010 at 7:35 AM
congrats on your well deserved win!! well written poem!!
Mehta Avatar
August 4, 2010 at 7:50 PM
Congrats on your win, Kevin
Brown Avatar
August 2, 2010 at 9:29 AM
I extend my congratulations to you on your win Kevin in Joe Flach's contest "The Earl of Sandwich". Love, Carol
Roberts Avatar
August 1, 2010 at 11:07 AM
congrats on your HM with this wonderful entry
Sweetheart Avatar
July 31, 2010 at 3:06 PM
Congrats Kevin on your HM in Joe's contest with this wonderful write and a special honor for u to enjoy..happy weekend..with luv..
Freeman Avatar
July 31, 2010 at 12:24 PM
Kevin, Congratulations on your success in Joe's contest. Agape, Moses
Bagnall Avatar
July 26, 2010 at 4:50 AM
Very wise word in there, a pleasure to read
Gorelick Avatar
July 25, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Sounds like a wonderful man..one to learn from..I love this piece..BG
Guzzi Avatar
July 25, 2010 at 9:11 AM
Yes Kevin regarding ...me breaking pattern on the end two lines of the sonnet...I did it purposefully for affect/ I feel the intro the climax & the ending are appropriate places for variences...I feel one can make any change the feel works IF they have a reason and not just they couldn't be bothered to spell check etc? This is just my attitude ;)
Guzzi Avatar
July 25, 2010 at 5:56 AM
Very nice clean direct straight forward way to get your message accross and a good contest write for the judge who doesn't like "intellectual writes or the use of too many BIG words...this was the input I recieved along with some very precise grammar corrections which BOY did I mess up LOL at least 6 times!" Not a good month for my brain! Light & Love (Now I will click the cup & get you a new subject line)
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