The Short Run and the Long Pull

Our fields lay side by side,
we farmed as best we knew,
my neighbor and I, and took
what the land gave. Both fields
sloped south with the topsoil
flowing downhill. Land moves
faster and farther than you
would suppose. We fed the
hungry land, he with manure,
I with nitrogen. He prophesied,
‘‘Don’t stuff mother earth with
chemicals, I’ll have good land
after yours is poisoned.’’
And, you know, on nights
when I can’t sleep, I wonder
if he is right.