John

The sweat breaks out upon John’s brow

To cool arms back and face

Saline rivulets freely flow

In crevices and folds do trace


John moves with a rhythmic bound

The scythe cuts deep and low

The stalks cut lay upon the ground

In a river pattern flow


The hard and manual work embarked

Liberate the mind to wonder

Of ancient thinkers beliefs talked

Of times way back in yonder



Of Common-sense the Rights of Man

Of Paine, Mill, and Biko

Lilburn, Marx, Chateaubriand

Machiavelli Hobbs and Cicero


He takes his break upon the mound

To watch nature and to wonder

The ants and insects roam the ground

The bees and flies that hover


In Hill top cottage on the moor

His hearts desire doth dwell

Janet is her name and sure

Her beauty he can tell


In hill top cottage on the moor

The petals decayed and fallen

Lay where they scatter on the floor

The stalks and water rotten



Robert left three weeks ago

To seek fortune in the town

With towns Girls she worries though

The thoughts do get her down


He left gifts of written prose and

Wild posy watered by rain

She tended flowers by her hand

Poetry read and read again


In field and back to work John rose

As She watches from window bay

A hope of marriage he will propose

Will she marry John - no way!