“The Hayloft” by Robert Louis Stevenson [w/ Audio]

Through all the pleasant meadow-side
The grass grew shoulder-high,
Till the shining scythes went far and wide
And cut it down to dry.

These green and sweetly smelling crops
They led in wagons home;
And they piled them here in mountain tops
For mountaineers to roam.

Here is Mount Clear, Mount Rusty-Nail,
Mount Eagle and Mount High --
The mice that in these mountains dwell,
No happier are than I!

O what a joy to clamber there,
O what a place for play,
With the sweet, the dim, the dusty air,
The happy hills of hay!

DAILY PHOTO: Kyrgyz Farmland

DAILY PHOTO: North Thailand Farmland

Roosters of Youth [Haiku]

when I was a child,
roosters aggressively charged;
 now: they flee, clucking.

DAILY PHOTO: Autumn Fields in South India

Bovine Chiropractors [Common Meter]

A cow is an animal, &
 animals are creatures.
  So, having strong proclivities
    is a cardinal feature.

Calling them "creatures of habit"
 must be for a reason.
  If creatures did not form habits
   the term would lose cohesion.

But I digress, I must admit.
 Let me get to my point.
  You see, a sloping pasture must
   be murder on the joints!

A random beast, who stood this way
 & that, would balance out,
  but standing each day - just one way -
   could cause a hip blowout.

A cow that grazes on a pitch
 must have unequal legs.
  Maybe, all it would take would be
   two tiny pirate pegs.

For wearing pegs on the downslope
 side would align the hips,
  but then on walks down to the barn
   cows would be prone to trips. 

For now, there's just one solution:
 bovine chiropractors!
  Because the cost will be so great,
   I'm seeking benefactors. 

Still-Life w/ Clouds [Haiku]

hay is baled, and
the pasture is empty:
still, but for cloud drift.

DAILY PHOTO: Őrség Farmland

Hidden Path [Haiku]

the path that runs
 through the millet field is
  only seen head-on.