Winter Field

Whether or not the man who turned
These furrows and wondered if in spring
He would be here with his team and seed
Still lives, after all, is the major thing.

For a field can always grow up to seeds
If it isn’t plowed and levelled for grain,
But a man who’s dead has not such luck
He’s done with things like growth and gain.

So I, the man who plowed the field,
Shall be relieved when they are gone,
This winter sleep, this snowy death,
I’m ready for work when the spring comes on.

    Original Citation

    Purple Pen 8 (May 1937) 25.

    Word Count
    95
    Original Publication
    Date Published
    1937
    Complete Poems
    31
    Theme(s)
    First Line
    Whether or not the man who turned
    Poetic Form
    closed
    Bibliographic Notes

    Purple Pen Citation in the Ward Bibliography (34) is listed as 1977, but this appears to be a typo with 1937 being the correct year of publication.

    Twitter Quote
    a field can always grow up to seeds / If it isn’t plowed and levelled for grain