Farmers
and the AC
was blowin’
full blast
and all the bulbs
were burning
room to room
and the dishwasher,
the dryer,
the oven
were all ticking
and the vehicles
were parked
and the frig was full
like the faucet
like the dog
like the house
and there sat the TV
with all its channels
click, click, click
and here was this guy
peering outta the box
wearing a cowboy hat
that actually fit
like the lines on his face
still handsome and rugged and real
and he was talking ‘bout his daddy
how he farmed the land
how he survived
the Dust Bowl of ‘35
how he plowed
sunup to sundown
how his hands hurt something awful
how, even so, he’d go
pick up that ‘ole fiddle
and play
“his hands would be bleeding …”
and as he told that story
he wasn’t on TV
he was on a farm
back in Kansas
sitting on the floor
listening
to his daddy play
for him
TL