Ghosts of the American Road

Out in the Fields

Posted on Nov 6, 2013

Distant guns of thunder
The wall cloud closes in
A young child clings to her mother
Such an angry wind

Way out in the fields
A lonely sod buster jumps from his John Deere
If he stays down by the creek
He can’t run for cover
Time only to pray for his family

The old farmhouse starts to shudder
A screen door is pulled from its hinge
Must be a mile-wide Prairie Cutter
That’s come bearing down on them

Horses crazed, break through the fence escaping
The wrath of God
The fury of Mother Nature
A hell-bound train, shattering window pains
Young mother cradles her baby and prays

Way out in the fields
a lonely sod buster sees the funnel appear
and he prays down on his knees
“Lord, blow me asunder,
Dear God, please spare my family.”

Way out in the fields
what once was a tractor now just pieces of steel
and way out in the fields
a lonely sod buster races to find his family

Beneath the blessed skies of azure
lies a twisted weather vane
on a small family farm in Nebraska
that God has spared today

© Kevin Higgins 2007