Three Poems for Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust
by Sharon A. Harmon
Jun, 2021
Dreams of Farmers
Staunch New Englanders strive
to nurture earth’s deep roots.
Try to overcome hard put obstacles
on this two-hundred-year-old farm.
Stone walls and the spirit of rugged hands
trail through the woodland like a maze.
Centennial hemlocks, trillium,
swamp pinks and poison ivy crawl the floor
echoing the musty woods. Deep in the souls
of hardcore farmers, the truth
grows new shoots, curling from the bones
of the land, keeps the vision in their hearts.
Farmers carry on to till, harrow, and tame
small plots that the forest begs to reclaim.
Much like the elusive endangered
Lady Slipper that delicately spreads,
the farm lands remain threatened.
Flower Haiku
Lady Slipper blooms
Hoping for another chance
Empress of the forest
Passing the Torch at Sunset Farm
Pray for a good harvest,
But continue to hoe.
- Irish Saying
Chuck and Livvy heeded their call forty-two years ago,
call of soil, whisper of green poking from the earth.
They listened to earth worms beneath the land.
Advised deer to keep away from their produce.
Witnessed the ever thriving, slugs, mud and droughts,
basked in the glory of fields knotted with flowers.
Black raspberries, kale, pumpkins, fun flowers,
fragrant herbs flowed each season like waves rippling.
Onions, garlic, tomatoes exploded from fields, mixed
with sweat and aching muscles. Listened to crickets
at the end of the season heralding harvest. A sunset
painted sanctuary passed to the next set of farmer’s dreams.
Sharon A. Harmon is both a poet and a freelance writer. She writes for The Uniquely Quabbin Magazine and also has a children's picture book coming soon. She has two chapbooks of poetry, Wishbone in a Lightning Jar and Swimming with Cats. Sharon teaches classes on writing and poetry as well as marketing. She recently published in Compass Roads and Chicken Soup for the Soul. She is an avid hiker and camper and lives deep in the woods of Royalston.
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust (mountgrace.org) benefits the environment, the economy, and future generations by protecting significant agricultural, natural, and scenic lands and encouraging land stewardship in northern and central Massachusetts. The core strength of Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust is our focus on completing significant land protection projects and actively stewarding the conservation areas we own. Our effectiveness is a function of our “just do it,” no-frills approach and responsiveness to the diverse conservation ethics held by the landowners of our region.