i’d like to write a book so that people
would understand good farmers truly care
about the animals they raise and feed
and breed, deliver young, nourish the herd.
it’s more than just business and bottom line
but for the love of cows that farmers will
work hard to keep them growing and alive
thru snowstorms, heat, disease, and parasites.
explain how methane cycle benefits;
how cow manure enhances health of soil.
why farmers plant their fields with corn and hay
to keep cattle content chewing their cud.
cows give us dairy products and real beef
both protein sources good for humankind
we treat our cattle with humane kindness
and they in turn help us to feed the world.
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Sanaa hosts poetics at dVerse today featuring poems of Maggie Smith. I’ve written in monologue style with no end rhyme but rhythmic pattern of iambic pentameter.
a poem in my pocket 
Apr 21, 2024 @ 10:52:59
This is so well written, and informative.
Apr 22, 2024 @ 12:12:04
I appreciate your comment, Sara!
Apr 18, 2024 @ 11:29:23
After spending my summers working on my Uncle’s dairy farm, I can give a great big AMEN to your poem. There is so much we simply take for granted, with little or no knowledge of where it comes from. Very well done, Lynn!
Apr 18, 2024 @ 13:25:15
I really appreciate your encouraging comments, Dwight…you know from experience how hard farmers work!
Apr 18, 2024 @ 18:05:53
yes I do… five summer’s worth! :>)
Apr 17, 2024 @ 21:10:49
Wonderfully expressed, Lynn, and a book on that would be great reading for folks like me who have always had a secret yearning to live on a farm. I loved the James Herriot books but of course they’re froma vet’s perspective of farm life.
Apr 18, 2024 @ 13:23:46
Thanks, Dora! I enjoyed James Herriot’s books as well and our fourth son is now a vet. 🙂
Apr 18, 2024 @ 14:02:10
How cool is that! What a rewarding life he must have. God bless him. 😀
Apr 20, 2024 @ 17:55:39
Thanks, Dora…it’s a special calling!
Apr 17, 2024 @ 18:22:37
I appreciate your perspective of farming and the love of the animals. This is a lesson for us all: we treat our cattle with humane kindness
and they in turn help us to feed the world.
Apr 18, 2024 @ 13:21:23
Yes…thank you, Grace 🙂
Apr 17, 2024 @ 11:34:34
I agree. Done well, farming is as you say. Unfortunately it’s all a matter of scale and there are too many too big agribusiness replacing family run farms. Perhaps your book will encourage buying local farm products and supporting CSA farms.
Apr 17, 2024 @ 15:21:02
Yes, I hope so! It’s hard to see mega-farming operations grow bigger and small family farms struggle to make it.
Apr 17, 2024 @ 06:43:24
“it’s more than just business,” .. yes absolutely! Such a stellar response to the prompt, Lynn 🥰🥰
Apr 17, 2024 @ 15:19:08
Thanks, Sanaa! I’ll talk to anyone who will listen about cows 🙂
Apr 17, 2024 @ 01:51:20
I love cows, Lynn, but from a distance, as I was trapped in a field with a herd of them many years ago. I also love cheese and cream, but I am not a meat eater. It’s so refreshing to read a poem about farmers who care about their cows.
Apr 17, 2024 @ 15:17:24
Scary to be trapped in a herd, Kim…they are big!
Apr 17, 2024 @ 15:27:11
And it was pouring with rain!
Apr 18, 2024 @ 13:20:44
NOT fun!
Apr 17, 2024 @ 01:26:07
I do understand… and don’t mind a bit, just maybe a little bit less so we can really enjoy it when we have it.
Apr 16, 2024 @ 22:50:54
It would be nice if historians paid as much attention to the farmers ploughing their fields as they do to the armies who were marching by (and probably robbed him from all his life stock).
Apr 17, 2024 @ 15:15:45
Yes, farmers build a country, soldiers often destroy it. Thanks, Shaharee!
Apr 16, 2024 @ 19:00:07
I am SO ready for your book! I spent many hours on my grandparents farm with cows, horses, chickens, pigs …. I watched them treat their livestock as beautifully as they treated humans. Well done!
Apr 16, 2024 @ 20:23:27
Oh, Helen, thank you for your encouragement!