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David Hutton  Dec 2018
Abattoir
David Hutton Dec 2018
It has been there for days, wasting away.
Bugs are summoned by the smell of decay.
Furry growth in a moist state,
Flies regurgitate.
Buzz, buzz, buzz all over the Charolais.
Farm hands , securing free access  through pine thicket, with chainsaw , shovel  and swing blade , hand driving steel post into Georgia red clay tempered by unforgiving heat , rolling barbed wire , cowherds in precision running taut lines with come -a-long tool , tractor winch and post hammer , surveying favorable routes and relocation of Angus and Herefored , Brahma and Charolais ...Leather gloves ,cowboy hats , sunglasses , denim jeans and flannels shirts deflect a hellish Sun directly overhead as Summers project moves forward , not for pay , nay , but as a rite of passage , teenagers assuming the role of young men securing the bond of Father and Son , family tradition , and honor , respect and love for the land .....
My brother and I running fence during Summer break in Heard County in the 70's .
Mr. Hopsons polished , placid pond surrounded by dark green July corn , teeming with mud and flathead catfish , dairy cattle call on clear blue , bucolic afternoons .. Black tadpoles crowd her tall vegetative shore , hoof prints riddle lonesome trails , killdeer chirp atop Elizabeth rose fence lines , paddocks come alive with abundant , fragrant wildflowers of every shape , color and size ..
Beagles cry for their midday meal , songbirds vivaciously work the white barn homestead , Rhode Island Reds gather for Noon feast , Embden Geese patrol East seeking the blacktop , waddle noisily along the gravel drive , forever curious , even a touch boisterous and foolhardy from time to time ..
Charolais bulls command the molasses lick , working salt blocks , lay
without fear beneath tin topped field shelters ..
Copyright February 16 , 2016 by Randolph L Wilson * All Rights Reserved
The morning fires of Ola have resumed
Leaves are whisked across rested -
pastures and workable fields
The bells of Hereford and Charolais announce the -
sunrise meal
The lick is filled , the trough watered ,
the herd counted , the busy day plotted
Orpingtons pick cracked corn , barley and
grit
The first firing of the tractor , the beagles -
leading the farmers rowdy contraption in -
hopes of a stirred rabbit or a covey of game birds
Ola's country air is thick with new- day diesel ,
fresh harrowed field and wild onion , thickened
with pine an fresh hewn hardwood ...
Copyright March 11 , 2018 by Randolph L Wilson * All Rights Reserved

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