Morning Cornfield
Photo by Amy LV
Students - This morning, driving home from bringing our daughter to where she volunteers at Messinger Woods, I stopped on our road to take this photograph. Living out in the country, I am continually amazed by the changes in the landscape. In early summer, I especially love these lines of corn. They remind me of lines on notebook paper. It's a gift to live in one place for a long time, to see the same scenes and colors, to love them more each year.
The expression "knee high by the 4th of July" to describe good corn growing always comes to mind when we drive by cornfields. And while this yardstick is no longer the standard for corn growth, the line does live on in many of us. It's fun to say!
Sometimes I smile to hear our children (12, 14, 15) talk about noticing much younger children growing up so quickly. How can it be that I am old enough to have children who are old enough to notice children growing? Time fools us sometimes, and today's poem is a simple rhyming comparison of the growth of corn to the growth of a child.
If you'd like to read about how corn grows, visit The National Gardening Association.
Jone is hosting today's Poetry Friday party over at Check it Out. As I always say, check it out!
May you notice a few beautiful growing things today, wherever you live and whatever your season.
Please share a comment below if you wish.
Amy. this is a delightful poem with a wonderful post about noticings and wonderings. I loved the way you wove the cornfields into a wonder about time passing by.
ReplyDeleteThis is the perfect pondering for the end of a school year.
ReplyDeleteI like cornfields, which is good because we have many of them in upstate NY! Lovely poem.
ReplyDeleteI love how you took that common saying and used it as a starting point, but took it further and deeper. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely charming. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteI wasn't familiar with the knee high expression until reading your poem. I love how you tie that to a kid's growth. This was a fun read. I hope it goes into an anthology about change or growth.
As an Ohio girl, I know all about corn that is knee high by the 4th of July. Behind our house we have a field in which the farmer rotates between soy beans and corn each year. I love the years when the corn stands tall and bends to the song of the wind.
ReplyDeleteYour last stanza was a delightful surprise. How true!
Cathy
I've been away from the community garden for three days -- I can't wait to see how much our four rows of corn have grown!
ReplyDeleteTomorrow, we will plant pole beans at the base of each corn plant -- two of the three sisters!
Yes, here in Maine the corn should still almost knee high by the 4th. We are behind most!
ReplyDeleteCute poem!
The last line is adorable, Amy! Your poem reminds me of the year we grew sunflowers. They were so tall, one of the children stood on my husband's shoulders -- just about even with the sunflower!
ReplyDelete