Fallow, a poem

Fallow

For a season, this, my field,

must lie fallow. Year to year,

I have seen its yield diminish,

yesterday's sweet memories

fade to sere reality.

Once I knew a vigor here,

in the fertile, fruitful soil

of my youth. What harvests grew —

truths sprang singing from that earth,

plucked fresh, savored. We devoured

summers past, the ripened days

bursting with their golden promise.

We, too, ripened in that time,

tasted of the sun, embraced

night's soft rains. The breezes whispered

subtle, honey-scented secrets,

rising as the moon and stars

slowly turned on heaven's wheel,

even as we rose and fell

toward tomorrow. All now fails

in me; our past is the dust

borne on a relentless wind.

This day has no words, no color;

I grow meager as my crops,

fitful as these dreams of you.

What was spent would be repaid —

field and man must sometime sleep,

heal and wake to bloom once more.

Soil and soul shall rest a season;

this, my field, now must lie fallow.

Stephen Brooke ©2016

This one took quite a bit of time and effort to forge. Who knows whether it was worth it?