The Plowboy

I’ll plow myself a pillow,
I’ll plow myself a bed,
Time goes by like a furrow
And soon I will be dead.

Then the field may wither,
Then the plow may rust,
And the gate sag on its hinges,
While I sleep because I must.

And I will not remember
That I was tamed for this:
To work in the yoke of summer
For the wage of winter’s kiss.

    Original Citation

    Music for Seven Poems (1958).

    Word Count
    69
    Original Publication
    Date Published
    1958
    Complete Poems
    91
    Theme(s)
    First Line
    I’ll plow myself a pillow,
    Poetic Form
    closed
    Bibliographic Notes

    Listed as "Plowboy" in the Ward Bibliography. Part 2 of the Music for Seven Poems sequence.

    Observations

    Includes a line that echoes the essay collection title Time Like a Furrow: Time goes by like a furrow

    Twitter Quote
    Time goes by like a furrow / And soon I will be dead.