![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Friedrich_Gauermann_-_W\u00c3\u00b6lfe_reissen_einen_Hirsch_1855-218x300.jpg\")
The metal of the plow drives through black earth,\ngrinding when it strikes hidden rocks,
\nas when a boat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s keel finds a reef\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coral fingers;
\nthe stones bite the metal, chew flakes from its edge.<\/p>\n
The metal of the plow drives through black earth,
\ngrinding when it strikes hidden rocks,
\nas when a boat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s keel finds a reef\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coral fingers;
\nthe stones bite the metal, chew flakes from its edge.<\/p>\n
The plowman steadies himself beneath a cloud-veined sky\u00e2\u20ac\u201d
\nthe last sliver of the moon peers at him,
\nlike a closing eye, veiled,
\nas the sun lurks just below the horizon.
\nHe stoops to study the damaged plow blade;
\nhis heart yearns for the quickening of the equinox;
\nhis waning, eroded spirit thirsts for spring.<\/p>\n
Winter-grown nettles pluck his flesh
\nas he breaks open the furrow with his blade,
\nspiteful thorn-vines clutch him, pull him down,
\ngashing his head on the plow\u00e2\u20ac\u201d
\nblood to feed the hungry earth.<\/p>\n
As he struggles to rise, he spots a chick
\nfallen from its nest in a tree near the field,
\nstruggling to escape the ground,
\neven as the farmer does.<\/p>\n
A hungry fox snaps it up;
\nhis vision widens, somehow
\nseeing through the thorn-vines,
\ntwining up the chick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blighted tree,
\ncascading down into a glade where
\na wolf takes down a broken-legged fawn,
\nsnaking hungry tangles into the den
\nwhere the pups wait, ravenous.<\/p>\n
The vine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tangles spread everywhere,
\nlooping even around cocoons
\nof reborn butterflies as they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re plundered
\nby new-woken wasps,
\nand he feels the thorns of it
\nbiting into his flesh,
\nlike the crows
\nwho have come
\nto join the feast.<\/p>\n
He struggles to his feet
\nbut new tendrils coil and clutch
\nwith vernal strength
\ndragging him down to plowed soil
\nwhere sharp thorns probe for ingress
\ninto his flesh, and vines
\ntighten, lashing him
\nto the ground.<\/p>\n
Thorns and talons
\nbeaks and claws,
\nthe rending of flesh;
\nhis life pours
\ninto the furrows
\nof the barren field,
\nhis perception
\nflowing like ink,
\nshrinking, sinking
\nfading into
\nthe earth.<\/p>\n
While his
\nwaning
\nspirit
\nwelcomes
\noblivion.<\/p>\n
The metal of the plow drives through black earth, grinding when it strikes hidden rocks, as when a boat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s keel finds a reef\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coral fingers; the stones bite the metal, chew flakes from its edge. The plowman steadies himself beneath a cloud-veined sky\u00e2\u20ac\u201d the last sliver of the moon peers at him, like a closing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1701"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1706,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701\/revisions\/1706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}