'Village Life' A Haiku Chain. Poem by Res John Burman

The children sit
On the back of the water buffalo
Who is minding who?
 
The women sing
Rice planting songs
Knee deep in cool water
 
In the bird scarer's hut
The babies sleep
Hanging in sarong hammocks
 
The planting done
A little gift of food and flowers
At the village shrine
 
The men drain the paddy
For the sun to warm the roots
Then flood again… the ageless cycle
 
When ripe the rice is harvested
Threshed and winnowed
There is no prosperity like a full granary
 
A harvest festival
A toddler is lost in the crowd
Found curled up safe with the water buffalo