Tractor Times

I've missed a few days of poems, which stinks. Lots going on, or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself. This weekend at least has been pretty full, helping Mom at the quilt shop on Saturday and Dad on the farm today. I'll hopefully do better this week about keeping up with National Poetry Writing Month. 

Here's a poem I wrote about today's adventure on the farm. 

Today I was Tractor Girl

Which is a better title than Barbed Wire Boys

Which fit my brother and cousin quite aptly this afternoon

As they pulled nails from posts and untangled barbed wire

My job was much simpler

Sitting in the tractor and pulling the correct lever to wind up the wire on the fancy gizmo

that attaches to the tractor and spins wire into spools

Plus I didn’t get rained on

I won’t lie and say I’m an awesome Tractor Girl

Quite contrary to tell the truth

I lack many of the skills and finesse required to drive a tractor smoothly and safely around our farm

My driving is quite jerky

Lowering or raising the bucket often requires a push and a pull

To remember if pushing lowers or if pushing raises the loader bucket

I haven’t had a whole lot of practice

And I still can’t tell you which tractor is the 4020 and which one is the 6020

Truthfully I’m not sure if those are even the real numbers to identify our tractors

I may have grown up on a farm

But I sadly am not that good of a farm girl

I’ve picked up a few things

I am not afraid to get dirt under my nails

And I’ve ruined my share of clothes

But farm work is not where I’ve found my passion

And that’s okay

Because if anyone depended on me to run a farm we’d all be in trouble

Don’t worry though

If you need a jerky and timid Tractor Girl

I’m the girl you’re looking for