Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FARM TABLEAU, by BETSY WINTER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FARM TABLEAU, by                    
First Line: Upon a farm, with soil of rust-red clay
Last Line: Then turns and plods, with patient steps, toward home.
Subject(s): Farm Life; Houses; Labor & Laborers; Women; Agriculture; Farmers; Work; Workers


Upon a farm, with soil of rust-red clay
Which shows in spots like blood dried on a wound,
There stand pretentious buildings for the livestock and
A small frame house from which paint peels in ragged curls.
A woman steals to an unkept burying plot --
Where tombstones lean, like crooked teeth, in crumbling rows --
Her body bent by pain and work like a gnarled tree
Which bows before bleak winds for countless years --
And watches, furtive as a bird charmed by a snake,
A sullen giant with black beard and hairy arms
Which guide the plow with absent-minded skill.
Maliciously he sees the woman kneeling there
And stops to point with threatening gesture toward the house.
The woman winces, like a suffering animal,
Which quivers to the impact of the lash;
She nods, her face a trembling mask of hate and fear,
Then quickly lays white roses on a tiny grave
And smoothes with gentle hand the stone above the mound
As if she feels again a child's bright, golden head,
Then turns and plods, with patient steps, toward home.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net