The under shell of
the tortoise looked
like a sunset.
Blasts of color:
orange, maroon, burnt sienna.
I caught them in
the garden at
sunrise, eating a
tomato or chewing into
a head of lettuce.
They always looked so
serious.

I was just a
sunburnt boy, with
cutoff jeans and a
straw hat.
I caught toads too.
But when they peed on me,
I let them go.
I loved that land.
Ponds and streams,
fishing and climbing trees.
oh,
sweet, green
youth.

The farmer has cows,

some poultry with a watchdog --


and holiday guests.

A house is where I find myself in
Any place is great for amazing masker
A house is where I fit myself in
Anything can work for an adapter

Long way from home I have always been
No sorrow, no remorse, just emptiness
Long days and nights it has always been
Not sad or mad, but no happiness

Never realized the hole inside of me
Been trying to live my days to the fullest
Now realized how depressing things be
None of the work I did actually worth it

Be it I'm done from the rushed life
Back home to where I can breathe
Walking slower and having long drive
Back home to where heart can beat

A Farm near Duivendrecht, here I am
Standing alone amongst the nature
The sight of gigantic, green grassland
Where I left behind, before I was mature

To the days I forgot to appreciate
To the windblows I forgot to soak in
To the times I forgot to lie aback laid
To the work I did to forget my pacing

Now at home where I forgot to miss
Now at home where the real heart is

The dewy grass makes me miss your lips,
as does the rain clouds.
When I see the baby foxes, your eyes appear,
rusty brown like the tractor outside.

Metal roof, where we lay under,
quietly listening to the drops.
You grasp at my warm waist,
pulling tighter like the loose faucet handle.

I crave your delicate peck against my lips,
like the green truck yearns to start.
My hands run through your hair as we lay
in the soft silence.

Dogs running and coffee cooling,
waiting for the sun to crest the hills.
I want this now, I want this later,
I want this forever.

Beneath the dark clouds, the
wheat blows gently on the farm.
I lie in bed and think about all
the loud farm machines that
will whirl into action at daybreak.
But tonight, as always,
silence is my best friend.

May the willows grow through your dog cages.
May the mice die and rot where they lay.
Half-moons of black dirt once filled up my fingers.
Prayed more than once for owls to carry you away.
No longer my ritual to clear sludge from the spillway
as your orchards grow barren
weeds cover your everything,
And mushrooms lay seeds
in your brain.

The dry day came
The baler the same
Walking behind they magically pop out
We march to the call and gurn to the shout

The lift is swift
And the landing is firm
On the steel trailer bed
Nothing more to be said

Off to the yard
To the pile at the top
We hide our protest
Man, this is hot

I can't see for the dust
The smell of the hay
Makes us lift faster
I'll remember this day

A neat puzzle is made
My energy will fade
Every bale must fit
Every lift, one of grit

The sweat and the heat
This job is not complete
Once more to the field
To gather the yield