Bare feet in the October afternoon
we peel apart the flowering silks
of season-ending sweet corn;
the scent of sugared earth floats
as we tear the still-green leaves
revealing rows of cobbed kernels.
Snapping free the stalk and
tossing aside the husk,
we lay the ear by for blanching.
The girls yank and pull and tug
at the shucking, laugh, and grasp
a silk or two with the tips of their fingers
and run through the grass. I boil, blanch, and shock
the loaded cobs, fillet sheets of gold nuggets into the pan,
spoon the bags full of summer’s gifts for winter’s darkness.
I fill these poems with yanking, pulling, tugging,
shucking, laughing, grasping, running,
the sweetness of childhood’s gifts for the winter’s darkness.
Generous Wisdom | Spacious Heart 
I love so much about this poem….the textures and feel of the corn, the children’s hands and bare feet, the afternoon warmth and all the “tugging” and “pulling” and “snapping” of opening the corn. This scene is joyful and full of hope. The “winter’s darkness” repeated in the last two stanzas works well and contrasts all the light in the poem. Again, I love the details, the “silk or two with the tips of their fingers” is lovely and pops off the page. The “scent of sugared earth” is a wonderful image-I can smell the corn in this piece. I also love the last stanza and how the “storing up” of corn is like writing a poem. What a labor of love here. Great work!! I enjoyed this on second and third reading even more. Yea!! So glad you’re writing. Your poems brighten my hours….Love and light to you dear friend!!!!
God blesses us with sweetness, doesn’t he? I’m so thankful for the moments I can see the blessings and enjoy them. So thankful for your reading… I struggled with lots of things here, the repetition of winter’s darkness among them. I’m glad it worked! Blessings to you, and the eyes to see them!
Why do my eyes fill, and why do I have goosebumps when I read your blog? I love you!
I love you, too 😉