Planting Time

Sweat glistens on your leathered brow
Old man astride a gargantua of rumbling rust
Dark brown earth falls in neat curls
Frothing at the end of the steel blade
"Has to hurt if it's to heal" you said
Old wounds open wide are cleansed
Leaving behind traces of what is to come
Now, old man, the green you hoped for
Is just beginning to surface in me
You let me steer the tractor one day
I left scratches haphazard, ugly
But with one pass you wiped them away
What if I need you next time I try
And find myself alone, no strong hand to guide mine?
Yet you knew that day would come
I open the creaking door of the dark barn
The metal monster gleaming viciously
It's planting time again, grandpa
I turn the key and realize my power
And my fear of creating something on my own
Then your voice comes crackling to me
I feel your thin, brown arms around mine
We'll do it together after all, old man
No, you didn't leave me alone after all