Born in a barn raised on a farm
makin' hay come what may
won't do what I'm told
can't be bought or sold
with a mind of my own
don't need politicians
prophets or priests
deciding my decisions
drink from the bottle
drive full throttle
don't get me wrong
know where I belong
ain't got no social graces
know where my place is
do what nature taught me
down in the lower forty
where rattling the bars of their cage
'til the cattle come home
chickens from afar were induced
and returned to roost
while at day's end
the scarecrow he an' me
we be best of friends
we climbed a barbed wire farm fence
falling into brambles that scratched us up
suddenly we were in a meadow
with tiny wild strawberries, daisies, violets, iris and queen anne’s lace
we’ll take it, we told the realtor
a Shangri-la which we still love
grumpy vegetables came marching over the hill to do their best.
They had heard of a weird new rule they wanted to contest.
Radishes and carrots were to stay in one bin, away from the potatoes.
But where did that leave the lettuce, turnips, parsley and tomatoes?
They came in with faces full of angry gloomy thunder clouds.
Ready to wrestle with anyone, their expressions dour as shrouds.
The farmer saw them coming and said what now? To his wife.
She rolled her eyes, said “I’ve got this,” and took out a paring knife.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Met the Farmer in the Dell
But Bitsy bit the Farmer
And the Farmer's hand would Swell
So the Farmer called his Wife
To the Barn that's in the Dell
Her Foot that wasn't Itsy
Then sent Bitsy straight to Hell
contest : Alpha Rhymes
sponsor : Joseph May
3.9.25
PLACED 3RD : Standard Contest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
APPLE BLOSSOMS CAUGHT DREAMY EYES
fairy farm was ablaze with fruity trees
gentle breezes swayed laden branches
canaries sang, cows mooed, all at ease
FIGS, GRAPES, HACKBERRY, IMBE, JACKFRUIT
with Turkish splash pool glimmering awaited
tiny tier temple newly whitewashed invited
brass buddha bell and rose garden gated
KITES LAY MOTIONLESS NOTICEABLY OBVERT
which leisure activity would we choose
as fruity farm holiday commenced covert
like in paradise peacock strutted with goose
PEACH, QUINCE, RASPBERRY, STRAWBERRY TARTS
stole our minds, stomach and hearts
this heavenly place embraced tired souls
stress dissolved in nature’s eloquent role
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the avenues of dreamland,
I met Orwell, who said:
“Man has not awakened.
He still bows to his servants,
who crown themselves as masters,
and he still claps while they rob him blind.”
Look around you:
presidents who eat for free,
live for free, travel for free—
and still plunder the treasury.
Meanwhile, you—their keepers—
starve, and cheer them on.
This is not democracy.
It is a farm of animals
where the pigs dictate the commandments,
erasing truth at night,
and you accept the lies by morning.
The soldier you fear,
the policeman you obey—
they are slaves too,
serving the same master who despises them.
For centuries you have tolerated theft,
you have swallowed corruption,
you have watched kings born from your own apathy.
And still you wait for salvation,
as if it will be handed to you.
But know this:
Power respects only power.
What you allow will continue.
What you fear will govern you.
And what you refuse to confront
will one day consume you whole.
So I ask—
not as prophet, not as poet,
but as a mirror to your cowardice:
When will the people stop behaving like sheep
and finally slaughter the pigs?
farms await bony hands of want
land thirsty for full bodied Love
what strength is needed to grow the maize
whilst shadows roam streets in haze
leaves like notes blow across ferocious Falls
how long can darkness juggle its balls
¥
balls of the clown are tired of work
calm Falls continue their crystal splash cries
shadows between trees rustle like hungry
beggars
maize aromas ripe fill air for inhalation
yellow Earth bursts fiery gore
hands of farmworkers touch Lushness of Lore
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Ferris wheel, a magic show
And lots of games of skill,
Food trucks filled with fried or frozen
Fare were on the bill.
Exhibit halls with quilts and varied
Goods, all made by hand
And huge zucchinis shown
With other veggies from the land.
The rides and games and food, to me,
Held little in appeal,
But animals from local farms
Made it a worthwhile deal.
The cows and goats and pigs and sheep,
With every barnyard sound,
Were stretched out in their pens, relaxed
Or nibbling around.
They all looked clean and healthy
And quite fat (except the goats),
With ribbons on display they earned
By gaining judges’ votes.
As a New York City gal
I wasn’t dazzled by the fair,
But the chance to see those critters
Made me glad that I was there.
a trillion petals magnetise my tender Heart
racing past farm workers in morning dew
Sun embellishes yellow song
crazed by mesmerising muse
saffron they slap an early chill gold
seeds swallow empty hopes sold
Truck
TRUCK
haul things
powerful
before age sixteen
learned to drive on a farm
I thought I was really cool
“my truck is a tool not a toy”
Drops.
In clots they come,
Jetting down festers of
The mean clouds that soar even higher.
Down here, the feet of the soil are mere clod.
Furnace rules upon the face of the waves,
Brewed and distilled from faceless chimneys.
The farmer’s rain is abroad.
Drought yawns with anger among the choir of
Desolate rainclouds.
Skeletal drops.
Measured in fingertips,
They drip wastefully on the teeth of the tarnished hoe.
A cloudburst comes to nothing as nightfall
Descends upon lean, famished thresholds
Laid waste by a running lightning.
Sir Billy Pig’s missing his oats
Miss Piggy Wig’s had hers, she gloats
But she’s looking so rough
Her bum’s full of crap stuff
Its output is brown and it floats!
I’m advised by a pal of mine
To “Never cast pearls before swine”
Or put lipstick on a pig
When it’s mouthing off big
Miss Piggy Wig’s an old bovine!
Empyrean drops,
Monument of July,
The pluvial chapter of life...
O July of enfeebled yolk,
Dispenser of splendour of sempervirence,
God has watered your tongue.
Therefore, pour, July, pour
The essence of life,
The grit of living
Unto the bosom of the
Seventh month and other
Months of parturition.
Let us conceive in July,
To bear in good season,
Sons of courage...
Wearing festal garments
And adorning our heads with sepia cloths,
This shall reinforce hope.
In front of the monument of July,
(A slouching image of sleepy rain)
Right on its wet feet,
Shall we bless the earth abundantly.
O July,
Bearer of thirty-one offspring,
Male and female, dew and fog,
So full of grains of years,
Frenzied and dancing your rites
Together with the age of insistent youth!
Middle age is when neither youth nor old age
Finds you worthy...
They sing:
The perception of the pristine green
Aroma of July
Is often the first of the rites
Of the seventh month.
Now I
want to be a banana
plant, swinging in the wind,
free from the knots of debt.
The shards of dreams won’t wound
me again. Ever. I’ll never be hunted
by the loan sharks with serrated teeth. The
weevil thought cannot perforate the corm of my peace.
Away from the waves of suicide, I’ll live–listening to the
Asian koel. I can decipher that song. Someone may drop
nutritious love into my heart; my roots will be wet
with kindness. My cigar leaf can grow straight
into the light. The blossoming of
altruism will come out, opening my
skull– budding. My end is made
serene- calm, by the cogitation
of my fruitful
e
x
i
s
t
e
n
c
e.
*First published in Native Skin.
*Reprinted in The Literary Hatchet.
*Poetry Nook Weekly Contest Winner.
It's criminal what women'll do
to keep a man down on the farm
shed false tears strategy I fear
pull the wool turn on the charm
smiling all the while
trap him wrap him twist him
round her little finger
and insist it seems
should he linger longer than
appropriate she deems
for him to appreciate
'til he's tongue-tied up in knots
with all those forget-me-nots
keeping her the centre of his attention
not to mention the apple of his eye
starting with Eve it's now a far cry
from his ambition ever coming to fruition
should he cave in and comply
Specific Types of Farm Poems
Definition | What is Farm in Poetry?
Poems Related to Farm
meadow, lawn, estate, orchard, ranch, acreage, plantation, field, nursery, grassland, pasture, garden, claim, soil, patch, holding, enclosure, grange, homestead, farmstead, arboretum, freehold, vineyard, acres, demense