Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet of Rain & Harvest to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
Before the dawn he rises, and he walks into the field,
With the tools of his devotion and the hope the seasons yield.
He kneels beside the furrows, and he whispers to the sky,
Send the rain in gentle measure, and the sun to warm the rye.
Let the seed become a seedling, and the seedling be a stalk,
Let no locust, blight, or mildew mar the field where I now walk.
Let my children have their bread, and my neighbour have his share,
And let the poor man passing find a portion waiting there.
For the earth is not my own, Lord, it is only mine to keep,
And I sow in faith and labour what the coming months will reap.
The sun climbed up behind him, and the dew began to shine,
And the farmer went on working with a peace that felt divine.
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Commentary
This is a prayer said with the knees in the soil. The farmer asks for rain, sun and protection, and he also asks that no one in the village goes hungry.
“Before the dawn he rises, and he walks into the field, with the tools of his devotion.” He kneels and whispers, “Send the rain in gentle measure, and the sun to warm the rye.” He asks that “the seed become a seedling” and that “no locust, blight, or mildew mar the field.”
He also prays, “Let my children have their bread, and my neighbour have his share,” and that “the poor man passing find a portion waiting there.” He confesses, “the earth is not my own, Lord, it is only mine to keep,” and then works on “with a peace that felt divine.”