Family Farm (Season After Season) Poem by Eric Cockrell

his granddaddy built
the old house from the
ground with his bare hands....

that old tractor has plowed
fields season after season...
how many winters has

that old barn seen?
how many buckets of water
from that old well?

how many children
conceived and born
under that tin roof?

how many times has
that fence been mended?
how many potatoes and

canned goods stored
in that old cellar?
how many nights spent reading

by candlelight....
how many pensive eyes
staring through that window?

how many cows milked?
how many eggs picked up?
and that old dog who's

been here forever.....
tomorrow the 'bank's' coming
to take it all away.....

and all that's left of a family
is that which can be loaded
on his old truck...