Summerhaven

The plums, weight, bending branches to earth,

becoming golden orbs, like small suns

warming to the touch

and softening like love does,

their scent rising

with the rasp of crickets

and the dry flit of grasshopper wings

and the buzz of cicadas.

All around, summer has changed,

becoming golden with languorous drowsiness.

~

It was haying at Summerhaven, the first cutting,

the oldest man driving up and down the field

seated on a tractor older than himself,

felling the tall grass.

The next day and the next with the tedder, fluffing it up to dry,

then the baling, small rectangles dotting the entire field,

golden on the short green stubble.

~

The gathering of friends and workers in sweaty camaraderie,

to lift the heavy grass onto the trailer and the pickup.

The trips to the barn, winter storage,

a chore made easier with a team of four-

the one in the most pain to drive the pickup

one in the bed stacking the load,

and two on either side,

gloved and long-sleeved, picking up the bales

and heaving them up to the stacker

up and down the gently sloping field,

getting it under cover before the storm.

*************************************

In the Japanese lunisolar calendar, the micro-season Plums Turn Yellow-ume no mi kibamu (梅子黄) brings us from June 16th to the summer solstice on June 20th.

In New York State, the first cutting of hay in the Catskills happens in June. Though most farmers have switched to the large round bales for convenience, we have a small hay field and a road too narrow for the large equipment required. The small square bales handle easily and work better with less waste for our needs. We rely on Ken, an experienced old-time farmer, to keep the equipment running. He comes out of retirement for a few days each summer to do the cutting and baling.

This poem was originally published on Medium in the Scribe publication, Thomas Gaudex editor. Thanks as always for reading my work. More poems in this series are gathered in my list Micro-Season Poem Cycle which you can read with a Medium subscription. I have also posted a few here on Vocal.

Natalie