"silage" poems
As the warm days of summer give way to chill, and shadows grow longer as days shed their hours.
High winds and rain storms scrub the tired landscape down.
Colours are changing from rich green to gold, from yellow to red and orange to brown.
The grain has been gathered, wheat, barley and oats, cut and collected, sifted and sorted and put into store.
Grown by God, and by man with machine and by effort of hand.
Poppies and stalks now mark the spot, of the return for their labour. The wealth of the land.
Birds follow the tractor, rising and falling, swirling and soaring they move like a cloud.
The farmer is out and turning the stubble into the ground.
Rooks and crows, gulls and wood pigeons, starlings and magpies follow him round.
Hay long since mown is now bailed and in barns, or rolled up and bagged, ferments now in high silage towers.
The countryside has yielded reward for all Adam’s toil.
Work done in rhythm with the seasons, sowing, growing, reaping, ploughing and tilling the soil.
Gathering goodness, from garden, and greenhouse, carrots and courgettes, tomatoes in bunches.
Fresher than any you can get in the shops.
Picking the bounty gleaned from the hedgerow. Rosehips and cobnuts, damsons and hops.
Elder and sorrel, mushrooms and puffballs, sour green crab apples, and brambles in tangles.
Sloes that were missed by the late winter frost.
Not all are pleasant and some really can hurt you, pick only those that you know and trust.
Take full advantage of God’s generosity, share it with gladness, with thanks, there is plenty for all.
Sticky syrups and cider, wines, cordial and beer.
Pies, puddings, sorbets and ice creams, jam, jelly, and chutney and enough pickles to last into next year.
As the warm days of summer give way to chill, and shadows grow longer as days shed their hours.
High winds and rain storms scrub the tired landscape down.
Colours are changing from rich green to gold, from yellow to red and orange to brown.
Oct 23, 2011
Oct 23, 2011 at 3:16 PM UTC
its the time for cutting and harvesting silage.
shearing of sheep.
busy time of hard work;
pairing down poems
Jul 19, 2014
Jul 19, 2014 at 12:21 PM UTC
some of us are bog people
we live with the snails and the maggots
making bacteria
we're suckers for substance
the dirt speaks to us
some of us are bog people
we hang with the microorganisms
making pilgrimages
we're slimey silt and silage
full-tilt and raw
the dirt wants us
dig it or dig it not
we can't help it
some of us are just bog people
Nov 28, 2017
Nov 28, 2017 at 6:39 AM UTC
Extending my sleeves past my frozen fingers,
it is -3 and handles of anything
get extremely bitter this time of year.
I fork in splinters of silage
#235 pokes her head out through the feeder.
I have plans for you Missy Moo —
well: our progeny.
Provided you’re in calf;
provided you stay in calf;
provided you calf down successfully;
provided it lives long enough to be killed.
If not, I’ll probably sell you
and buy an in-calf heifer instead.
No pressure.
Dec 22, 2010
Dec 22, 2010 at 9:44 AM UTC
all winter housed in the yard. Fed
the freshest silage, the cleanest water.
All the nuts they could eat.
But they’d hang their heads by the gate,
longed for earth between their hooves.
Hard to run giddy on concrete
between confining walls.
Eventually beaten with hurlies
and a black pipe
onto the back of a truck.
5 heifer hang from hooks.
Aug 30, 2010
Aug 30, 2010 at 2:14 PM UTC
Has arrived.
Silent rows stand breathless,
Sweating in the dense heat,
Of August.
Blackbirds do not yet circle;
The sheaves are still too young,
Kernels burgeoning sweetness,
Hiding from the ravagers
Soon to come.
The tall field, burdened in the heat
Broods over tassels brown,
Ripens corn beneath a yellow sun,
Waits the pickers' marauding hands,
The tractor-roar of silage foragers,
And relentless tearing of plows.
Aug 16, 2015
Aug 16, 2015 at 2:30 PM UTC
It could be any night, it just happens to be Tuesday
in the trailer outside Jerry’s
I remark — as he slices her open —
I’m missing Grey’s Anatomy.
Her guts pop out like balloons,
not as neat as the text books in college.
Long enough since her water broke,
hope’s gone home to bed.
(Where I want to be.)
Reaching her womb, he pauses …
blank expression on his face.
Then he sneezes and yanks out the lamb.
Silent, but weak.
The kettle in my kitchen boils,
stream that episode of Grey’s as I,
the Pyrex jug and bottle head down to the shed.
Place the lamb on my lap, kissing his forehead —
C’mon little man, don’t deny me the satisfaction
of taking your testicles.
He’s slow at first, but soon finds second gear
and discover he’s the stomach to back it up.
Eyes loud. Tiny tongue accelerating …
***** pucks the *** write off the bottle.
Delays in delivery deprive oxygen.
Sometimes you get away with it.
I’ve seen this before. There’s jelly
in his legs that will never set;
despite all his attempts he’ll never stand.
Whenever I can bring myself
I’ll have to get the sledge.
You can’t even imagine the mess
the first time, now
I use a length of plastic
from the silage pit.
Wrap. Whack.
Amen little man.
Nov 9, 2010
Nov 9, 2010 at 1:23 PM UTC
Little Miss Muffet
Got ******* on her tuffet
‘Cause she don’t know what curds weigh.
A scholarly spider
Sat down beside her
Said, “Tuffet baby, it ain’t spelled that way.”
But, confused, he asked
“How did it come to pass
That you got laid and I have not done yet?
With eight legs to grab
I should be able to nab
Likely many more than than you can get.”
Muffet said, with a shrug
“You pitiful old bug,
Your brain must be little more than silage.
For everyone knows
How the old saying goes
It’s not the age of the tire but the mileage.”
The spider understood
What anyone would
That Miss Muffet knew what she was doing.
He went on his way
With no more to say,
And Muffet went right back to her ********
Dec 2, 2015
Dec 2, 2015 at 3:08 AM UTC
T-Thronging poets are welcomed at the doorway
H-Hundreds do shuffle in by night and by day
E-Eliot York hath provided a platform for display
H-How fantastic it's been to stumble upon this space
E-Every conceivable style of poetry is seen in the place
L-Love and all emotion put in front of a person's face
L- Lasting impressions left for our minds to e'er trace
O-Our world poetic fraternity gathering in an embrace
P-Prolific amounts of verse offered to the page
O-Over the years some hath been verily sage
E-Engaging with fellow poets on a large stage
T-Themes and philosophies begetting of gauge
R-Robust the giving which occurs at this silage
Y-Young and older writers inside a vast cage
S-So let us all put our pens in creative mode
I-Invest HP with the fruits of your brain's node
T-Thousands of readers will enjoy every code
E-Endless lines we can all scribe into a fine ode
Dec 22, 2014
Dec 22, 2014 at 8:52 PM UTC
I must be overheating,
cause my air tubes are filled with steam.
My movement cogs are rattling,
awkwardly, clashing joints screech.
There is combustion in the oiled pits,
which catch fire all to quick,
and boils stomach grease
and releases gassy silage.
The gas seeps out the crevices
and pollutes the wholesome air.
Poison in and out,
hot smog--a warning sign.
I must be overheating,
as a mechanic rushes toward me.
He wets me with his coolant,
and cools me with his sweat.
Jan 20, 2015
Jan 20, 2015 at 8:31 AM UTC
THE BESTOWING BOY
-ARAVIND BHARGAVA
“Once there was a boy,
For whom conferring was a joy.
And the boy loves his friend so much,
And enjoys everyday in his touch.
Every day the boy visits his house,
And a feeling of joy arouse.
At the time of acquiring something from his friend,
Saying “No thanks” was his real trend.
And the boy was happy.
One day the boy perceived,
A bull searching for food to be received.
And famished poor people pleading
People for food feeding.
And condolence stimulated over the boy.
The boy on the very next day,
To keep the starving away.
Took grains, silage and balancing food after lunch,
For the bull and the poor people to munch.
And by seeing the elated tears,
The feeling of pity in the boy clears.
And the boy was happy.
But time went by,
And the boy prolonged offering thereby.
One day the boy’s beloved friend,
Visited the boy’s house for joy to tend.
And the boy offered something for his friend,
As giving was his real trend.
And the boy was happy.
Conclusion
Always keep your hand
In a conferring position, rather than
In an acquiring position.
And if you always expect
Something from others
You are a beggar”
Oct 23, 2014
Oct 23, 2014 at 1:17 PM UTC
If you ask me how I am I just might tell you. If I feel like it.
I might tell you that there are weeds growing willful up
around the old shed, that the creepers are out of control,
that there are multi-coloured ladybirds ******* at old wounds
in the hollow of my heart, that acres of wild white daisies
are mad with Spring in the fields but that soon they shall wilt
because that's how it goes. If you ask I may tell you how
I drew blood from a prickly rose I couldn't stop myself from
touching and that it still hurts years later,
that some short-sighted clever creatures devoured too much
honey from the beehive in my back yard and died there fat and over-fed.
If you ask me how I feel I might say 'fine' but don't believe a word.
Fine!!
If you ask me how I am, and you really want to know, then search
my eyes for the spark that links souls and breathes new life
into old secret hiding places we didn't know existed, down there
in the gully where maggots love to linger and make silage, where
tombs are built to keep dead things buried and comatose.
if you ask me and I'm not saying you will, then be prepared to
drop down to where lifeless things may want to come back to life.
If you ask me who I am, I may say that I'm a cosmic river of luminous
liquid that spares no gellyfish from their own refection, where
dolphins stare speechless into the lost Polynesian deep blue of rusting
wreckage. If you ask me how I am, be sure you really want to know cause if
I'm in the mood, it may be a long trip and you may need a toothbrush.
So if you ask me and you probably won't now, but if you do we shall
sip wine of a kind for drunken lovers lush with the alchemy of bitter
grapes aged and morphed into the sweet drippings of reckless
angels ready to yank off another lid.
Apr 19, 2018
Apr 19, 2018 at 6:25 AM UTC
I know boys that have smoked for seven years
and quit for a year
and they're not even twenty.
I know boys that eat
sandwiches
with black hands
black from motor oil and tar
and shower four times a day.
I know boys, I love boys
that can fix cars, milk cows,
get up at six and drive two hours
to work
with three hours sleep
still drunk from the night before
and never puke.
I breathe boys that smell of slurry,
silage, and turf fires
that shout
things about tractors that I can't understand.
Smoke joints at 8AM before work
and reckon they work harder for it.
I love FÁS boys.
Untrained boys,
rough and ready, picked at the seam boys,
home boys, lover boys, my boys,
curse like a sailor and hand on my thigh boys.
"You should stop picking men
based on their ability
to open beer bottles with their teeth"
said Mam. But I love those boys,
those earthy boys,
those make me feel alive boys.
Mar 27, 2015
Mar 27, 2015 at 10:06 AM UTC
o, this sea
of living , mortal blood -
sleeps in the silage of
gleaming flesh
us, the brute million,
enisled here, fish roaming
up and about hurried currents,
a muddle of breath aloud
or a hoard of a dream,
we, wet with continuities.
ah, populace, maddened
furiously sauntering
back to homes.
Oct 8, 2015
Oct 8, 2015 at 4:10 AM UTC
The toad is looking
for water, its moist **** smells --
like warm silage grass.
Dec 8, 2024
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:48 AM UTC
It still lights up with the dazzling lights of Autumn - why aren’t you with me?
He cuts the woody arms into honey-flavored gold - why did you throw me out? - Gentle branches are replaced by skeletons, indifferent death hooks, and the sudden coming Winter quickly wears away!
Immersed in the captivity of shelter pillows, caring maternal dunes, why don't you comfort me anymore? In the deserted waves in the field, he still hits his head, the mature avar breeds peacefully — as if you were lost chestnuts with your lost eyeballs — where did you get away from me?
Rosehip breaks down its red berries, twilight wounds: Your blushed face is happiest at this time! - Where could you go from me? Morality gets its name on your wall, your proud head shines! At Nagymaros, the silage and the wild Danube are wicked into fragile tenderness, and caressively caresses the blessed eggs of swan soles! - Why didn't you stand by me? Only the broken wounds of your heart should heal, - I understand that - we should have judged one last judgment, and we should gently tell each other as long as we could, until the magical sunset burns twilight roses in your hair!
- You're not by my side yet! Yet now the emotional need is very close to you: In me, a starving child chuckles for babysitting and love like an innocent selfish! When we were even younger, did you think there would come a time when the immortal Universe would also thirst for our unquenchable eyes?
"You can't be by my side at this poisonous, murderous moment," you know.
Sep 13, 2020
Sep 13, 2020 at 2:26 AM UTC