The Rows Await

The Rows Await

By John W. Vander Velden

Their numbers shrink, yet I stand among the few that prepare, as the rows await the grand harvesting machines.  Since the days of spring when the soil accepted the seed carefully planted, those that work the land watched and worried.  Tiny seedlings cracked the soil standing as soldiers in formation.  It is they that form the rows as the farmers struggle.  The battle begun even before the straight line armies had covered the fields, continues each day as the plants grow.  The war plans, made at kitchen tables and in tractor seats, battles against unpredictable weather, weeds, and disease, demand brave souls, willing to work and to risk, and in the end require us to wait.

Many years, I have come to this place – to a place where all the sweat and worry lay behind me.  The tall rows of golden corn stalks stand.  The soybeans ready, as lines of precious pods upon straight stems, stretch across the field.  Many years have taught that success is not measured by the green fields of August, its value will be measured by the bin.  This warrior is ready, for the rows await…    

(190 Words)