We enjoy an idyllic life in our rural place,
A quiet steady lifestyle without a frantic pace;
Lovely scenery everyday waiting to be seen,
Five miles of unspoiled river where everything is green.
All the cattle in the field want us to be there
To share with them the pleasures of clean country air.
But mother nature has a way of turning things around,
When we find a calving cow who can't get off the ground.
Her calf is only partly born, she can't complete the birth;
Some chain, the truck, pull the calf onto the messy earth.
Just one of many things a cattle farmer has to bear,
Several kinds of heartbreak can happen anywhere.
But in the end, the balance, is the important test,
For the pleasures of farm living far outweigh the rest.
A contest entry
- Invite For... HM winners Judged by RedwingSpirit.
475 points, ended April 7, 2008, 46 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Look for the pleasant things in life and you will most likely find them
Comments
1 - 11 of 11
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Well, congratulations on your HM and it was well deserving, although a gold would have looked great sitting there. This piece really want to make me pack up and move on back out into the country, away from this fringe city life we are living now. For the peace and the quiet and the solitude away from all the hustle and bustle. I love how you told about the calfing and how a helping hand was given by the farmers. Boy, wouldn't that hurt the calf somewhat? I suppose in that sort of life, you have to expect the good with the bad, as everywhere, but I think the animals have a way of pulling on heartstring that far outways anything I know. A brilliant write once more and I am sure goning to keep hunting around back here for ones I have missed.
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Many thanks Lee for your visit to this one. There are a of sad times on a farm where you are working with animals all the time. Even when there are a large numbers of them you still feel it when there is a death for whatever reason. You get to love all your animals, even the wild ones.
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Excellent Write Dear
Thank you for taking the time to enter this into my contest I wish you the best of luck
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Thanks so much. I don't enter many contests as I write about what I know and my mind doesn't work well to prompts. Thanks for the opportunity to enter this contest. Cheers, Bob
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Excellent
There are many beauties within this world and birth comes to all about us and we help and care for all to be beautiful and free . This would sure look good on the Texan Writers group Im in could you contact Pure Country and see if you can join we need more Texans on board
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I thank you for your great comments and the invite to join the Pure Country group. I will look into it. Cheers, Bob.
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What a fab glimpse into farm life here! I'm sure the pleasures definitely outweigh any hard times or heartbreaks!
Growing up on farms I can definitely relate to this piece... city girl now I'm afraid
Sometimes I long for the peace of the country... that clean country air.
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Life on the farm is a good life. There is a mixture of joy and sadness, hard graft and easy times. But the balance is to the good. Thank you for you encourageing comment. Cheers, Bob.
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The title is demonstrative of the voice of the poet and the mandate of the poem, imagery has clarity and takes the reader on the journey into the scenery with ambience. The inclusion of the calf not being birthed properly and having to pull the poor creature out to save the cow was indeed sad but part and parcel of nature. Indeed balance is shown by the poem and reminded me of one of my favourite authors, James Herriot, he is an ex Vetenarian who worked for many years in the Yorkshire Dales, he writes of the land, the people and the animals with realism and affection and also reveals the balance to be found within the hard work but fruits of labour from farm life.
Well done dear poet.
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Hi Yvette, Your grasp of the situation pleases me no end. The message I wished to portray seems to have come through quite well.Thank you for a lovely comment. My wife to be [diddi at Storywrite] comes from Yorkshire and knows the country written about by James Herriot. I watched parts of the TV series based on his writings and thoroughly enjoyed them. I have read at least one of his books but can't remember the title right now.I really appreciate your comments, you have made my day good again. Thank you.Cheers, Bob.
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Thankyou
Bob,
thankyou and I saw a few of those episodes too, a couple of titles of the books are " It shouldn't happen to a Vet" and " All creatures Great and Small"
Your wife to be, diddi, certainly originates from a lovely part of this land, Yorkshire folk are as down to earth as the earth that they revere, warm folk who have no airs or graces but find the grace within fresh air. I know you are incredibly busy but should you find time then am sure you won't be disappointed by reading Herriot's books, any of them, he has a keen eye for observation, a sense of humour, a natural love of animals and is skilled at characterization, even of the animals themselves!
Enough of my rambling,
best wishes to you and diddi
Yvette
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