Southern Minnesota landscape
Silent in the night
Alive with the sounds
Of the great plains at first light

Come together in a solitary farmhouse
Secrets lost behind these walls
The lake offers some respite
Until the sun stations, then falls

Our hands work this ground
Threatened by funnel clouds each spring
Rest easy at the fourth
And hope for the harvest rains bring

Some siblings stay
Some siblings escape
A new generation starts
Where a dream was left agape

Each task provides time for thought
A daily schedule to keep
Leads into a new season
Ending a year this soul to reap

Plain is the land and our lives
We need only the earth’s good grace
Assured by repetition
An existence emerges from this place