City folk turned country dwellers
we weathered through the seasons.
First-time home-owners on thirty acres,
we rented out our fields.
Watched corn and wheat planted,
then flourish in hot Iowa sun.
Harvest seasons came and went.
Like shapeshifters,
acres changed their landscaped views.
Plant, tend, reap, rest.
We marked off years waiting,
hoping for a blooming of our own.
And then, pregnant with expectation
we watched my belly grow,
just as the wheat and corn grew tall.
Similar to mother earth that year,
we gave birth, finding sustenance
in the fruits of our labor.
And then one bright September day
we brought our daughter home.
Stood blinking from the sun’s glare
holding her up amidst the fields,
thankful for new life
in this, our season of joy.
Written for Tuesday Poetics at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets across the globe. Today, Rose is guest hosting and titles her prompt “Waiting on Wheat” – asking us to somehow write about wheat within our poem. Photos are from our homestead in Iowa, in 1974. Yep – that’s me with our daughter on the day I came home from the hospital. In those days, it was common to stay in the hospital for 5 days! Even after a normal birth. My how times have changed! The title for the poem comes from Ecclesiastes in the Bible and was also turned into a wonderful song written by Pete Seeger, first recorded in 1959.
lillian the home poet 
How lovely to see all the seasons coming and growing with the field and fruits and family growing and expanding. I enjoyed reading this journey of yours, one of many fruitful and productive seasons for you.
LikeLike
Thank you so much, Grace. Glad you enjoyed. I do treasure these old photos. 🙂
LikeLike
Beautiful remembrances, Lillian. This part brings tears to my eyes:
“Stood blinking from the sun’s glare
holding her up amidst the fields,”
Wonderful photo of you and your daughter ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been going through old photos during these home-bound pandemic days. I’d just come upon this one of me, just home from the hospital and the poem seemed to write itself. Glad you liked it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There is nothing like old photos to inspire poetry 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you for taking me on a such a lovely journey, Lill, giving me a glimpse of Iowa fields and sun. I like the idea of fields as shapeshifters, changing their landscaped views. What a beautiful way to remember the birth of your daughter!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Kim. Looking out our Boston high rise windows and buildings and city lights and streets in no way, show the passing of the seasons like living in rural Iowa and watching the changing landscape all around you. Here in Boston, the contours we see stay the same….there may be rain, or some leaves changing colors or snow on the sidewalks….but in rural Iowa, the actual contour of the land seemed to change with the season because of the planting, growing and harvesting. And for us, birthing our first child certainly changed the contour of our lives as well 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is so lovely. The combination of childbirth and harvest works so well. I can really feel how the seasons become so much more than the weather when you are close to the fields.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is exactly it, Bjorn. The actual contour of the view outside your windows changes with the seasons when you are in rural Iowa….the planting, the growth, the harvesting. In the city, where we live, the contours stay the same: the tall buildings, the sidewalks etc….the only thing that changes is they may be covered with snow or with green or autumn red leaves or no leaves.
Glad you enjoyed!
LikeLike
I love the themes of time and nature here. They are written so well with beautifully entwined details. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Lucy. Glad you enjoyed! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely sustained metaphor Lillian. Here, in France more than twenty years on we still stayed in hospital for five days for a normal birth. For my first I was in for 12 days (baby had jaundice) and rather more for the youngest (cesarean section).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here in the US now, most mothers deliver one day and go home the next. I think part of that is the unwillingness of insurance to pay…but I also think it is the movement to natural childbirth and believing it is all “in a day’s work” so to speak. Personally, very glad I had the 5 days….especially when the second one came. Once I got home I had a newborn and a 20 month old and that was then end of rest for a while 🙂
LikeLike
Natural as in, everyone is born, don’t make such a big deal out of it?
I’m very glad we have a state funded health service that puts health before profit.
I had the 2O month gap between second and third too 🙂
LikeLike
A beautiful journey through the seasons. I enjoyed your photos too😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad you enjoyed, Sue.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a wonderful, special journey with you Lillian. I love how you take us along so we feel your yearning ☺️💕 Beautiful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you enjoyed, Christine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Remember the film FIELD OF DREAMS, when the baseball player steps out of the corn field and Asks,”Is this Heaven?”, and Kevin Costner says,” No, it’s Iowa.” This is the most vivid of your Iowa remembrance poems. So beautiful and sun-kissed and fertile. As you held your daughter up, I flashed on the Kunte Kinte moment in ROOTS.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’ve been to see that film. We have a DVD of it and still enjoy watching it. It has almost become one of those “cult” films….one for the ages, I believe. Thank you, Glenn. Glad you enjoyed! Those were very special years for us! The baby in the photo is now 46 years old!
LikeLike
Ah, lovely – the changing seasons, fruitfulness, we are as wheat, growing, glowing. Lovely. And great to see some photos, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Growing and glowing….that is an apt description of my two pregnancies. I loved every minute of them! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed this one, Sarah.
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories. I love the Pete Seeger song — in fact I love most anything Pete Seeger!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too! It was one of my favorite songs of the era.
LikeLike
Such beautiful pictures, Lillian! I love the poignancy with which this poem is penned 😍😍
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you enjoyed, Sanaa. The baby in the photo is now 46 with two children of her own! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s amazing! 😀
LikeLike
kaykuala
holding her up amidst the fields,
thankful for new life
in this, our season of joy.
The proud arrival of an addition to the family amidst the richness of the countryside scene. Certainly, a joy to keep in memory for ever, Lililian!
Hank
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been going through old photos and reorganizing, compressing the collection, putting into a new photo/scrapbook, archival quality paper etc….writing in explanations etc and came upon this photo. The baby here is now 46 years old! How I love photos marking special times.
LikeLike
correction ..in memory forever Lillian!
LikeLike
The images, metaphors, contrasts and similarities here make a wonderful memory. Should be in a frame.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh….thank you, Mary! I’ve used Shutterfly to make some small books of my poetry for my children….these in the “cherished” section of my blog are some that are included. Very fun to do and quite different from a normal photo album. 🙂
LikeLike
A lovely and heartfelt piece, Lillian.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome!
LikeLike
Beautifully done Lillian. I love the intertwining of the harvest with the even more precious harvest in your bundle of joy😊. I learned a bit about farming too. Didn’t know Farmers rented fields. A fun read.
Pat
LikeLiked by 1 person
We were city dwellers who bought our first house on 30 acres of land. It included a barn that had a boar at the top with 1886 etched in it and an old windmill as well. We had a HUGE garden in our VERY large back yard….that included 4 apple trees. We rented out the large fields to the farmer down the road. The nearest house was so far away that I could literally stand in our back year in my underwear, hanging cloth diapers on the clothes line and when I saw dust on the road in the distance, and have plenty of time to get inside before the car would drive by where the driver could see me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love that it was from 1886.. and living on 30 acres, wow! Such privacy. I always wanted to spend time on a farm. Just for the openness of it. And the animals. One of these days!! 😊😊.
Pat
LikeLike
This is lovely – how beautiful to watch your baby grow as your crops grew. It must be a joy to remember such a happy time: thank you for sharing the memory.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Ingrid. It was indeed a very special time in our lives! That baby in the photo is now 46 years old!
LikeLiked by 1 person
How time flies when you have children 😅
LikeLike
I love all the precious memories and parallels you’ve included in this poem. Simply lovely.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
you took us in these joyful moments, dear Lillian. the wheat plump with your belly pregnant. this made my heart warm. thank you for sharing. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
So glad you enjoyed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Superbly evoked
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
You’re welcome
LikeLike
This is heartfelt and also makes me happy. 🙂 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always happy to hand out some happiness! 🙂 So glad you enjoyed.
LikeLike
Excellent engaging write Lillian! 🙂 Come visit, share with me the Vast.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad you enjoyed! I adored your poem for this post! You’ll see that in my comment 🙂
LikeLike
such warm memories of the harvest and new life … that farm will always be a special place for you and I see why wheat is so significant! Linked with your first born 🙂
LikeLike
Such wonderful memories. So glad you enjoyed your time in Iowa. We certainly enjoyed having you among us and wish you were still a part of the small community. Hugs ❤
LikeLike