There is hardship

There is hardship

In old communities

Smallholdings built into the lie

Of the land

Sinking in poverty

A refuge for hermits

Who always look kindly on paper

But prefer to be left on their own.

Country folk

Live with the promise

Of nature

Building a future

Sharing Tull’s seed drill between families

Tending their horses

Using a three-field system

Trying to keep one step ahead

Of the weather

Even as winter sets in

The ice will melt come April

It is the way of the world

To ensure that the seasons

Don’t overstay

Spring comes as a welcome relief

To them all.

The sun needs to shine

Through the summer

With a little rain,

England’s finest,

To keep the earth moist

But not too much

As the new growth

Will rot before it can sprout

Drown before it can ripen.

If all goes well

A smile will break out across the cornfield

It will look like it is

Beaming from ear to ear

And every local farmer

Will come together

For the harvest

When even lonely hermits celebrate

The meaning of kinship

And crop rotation.