I would take nothing
For my days as a farm boy
Days waking up
To chores with the cows and sheep
The hay and the pasture
The fences around them
Days of sunshine and rain
Snow and sleet
Heat and cold
Lift and toss
Rocks lifted by freeze and thaw
Hay cut raked and baled
Hauled to barn then unloaded to loft
Then in winter fed
To stock on the pasture ground
Or in mangers for ewes and lambs
In the barn
Then comes Christmas
And with it new lambs
All night in the barn watching over the birthing of
Twins and singles and occasional triplets
Up and nursing in minutes
Once licked by their moms
Or if chilled taken home
For a warming in the kitchen
Then back to mom or a surrogate
Then with spring
New green in pastures and hay fields
Soon mowing raking baleing hauling again
Lambs to market
Ewes sheared and drenched and feet trimmed
Calves castrated and dehorned
Fences patched gates rehung
Rocks picked up hauled by sled to ramp
For the hay loft
Thistles dug
Chores unending repeating
Best life for a boy
There can be
Responsibility