Homecoming

So let’s knock off for the day, I said,
The sun already had left the sky,
I picked up the last few bales of hay
And cooled my face till the sweat was dry.
We started the tractor and turned around
With a homeward pull in face and thought,
Two fields and a lane and at last the barn.
Someone was doing the chores, I caught
The sound of milking, I walked to the house
With nighthawks whistling above my head.
The door swung open to greet my step
And someone behind it still as a mouse,
Then lips saying all that the heart could say
To the farmer, home, at the close of day.