Terry Ireland | + Follow Poet |
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Muck Spreading

This was the way it was
In my childhood days
With ancient and tried
Crop farming ways.
Up to the ankles in slurry,
Muck fork in hand,
Ready to spread manure
To fertilise the land.
No tractor and spreader
Just an old ‘oss and cart
Out in the early morning
For a good start.

Fold yard’s been cleared and
Cart filled from manure heap,
Fertiliser is expensive
‘Oss and cow muck is cheap.
It doesn’t take that long
To get used to the smell
But Ammonia secretions 
Make the eyes run like hell.
Up and down the furrows,
At the end of the day you find
You’ve  spent a few hours just 
Watching an old ‘oss’s behind.

A nice steady pace as the ‘oss
Plodded steadily on and on
Until another  field’s  finished,
Another long day’s gone.
Sometimes as just a kid
I was so tired and dead beat
Took all me time to stay awake
Long enough for me to eat.
It’s all mechanical these days
With chemical fertiliser spread
Soil crumbly and friable
Insects and worms mostly dead.

So, the world has reached  crisis
Caused by the modern ways
Organic farming’s coming back
With more natural fertilisation ways.
Tractors and muck spreaders
Nowadays play their part
No more standing being pulled
Behind an old ‘oss and cart.
My world’s changed for better 
But I really regret the loss
That these days you seldom 
Catch sight of an old shire ‘oss.

The way it was for my Dad and all those other 
Farm Labourers before WW2  nchanged things.

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Daniel Turner Date: 4/1/2023 7:41:00 AM Good read, Terry. There have been a lot of the old ways discarded to make life easier. Perhaps not better. So many folks don't know what hard work is. Like everything else from those days, it has passed into folklore. Have a great weekend my friend. Login to Reply Terry Ireland Date: 4/1/2023 8:28:00 AM Thanks Daniel. Some of those old methods, made easier by modern machinery, are coming back thank goodness.

Speaks Volumes Date: 4/1/2023 3:04:00 AM Now I am not going to say I loved a poem about muck spreadin or watchin a horses backside for hours, but I do love the story and the way you told it. Exceptional. Login to Reply Terry Ireland Date: 4/1/2023 3:08:00 AM Its the most relaxing part of standing on a load of organic waste forking it over the side, eyes running from ammonia. Only did it a couple of times to help Dad. Thanks Wen.