Typewriter Rodeo: Farmland

Each week, the Standard reaches out to Austin’s Typewriter Rodeo for a custom poem on Texas topics.

By Sean PetrieFebruary 13, 2023 9:21 am, ,

Texas is both rural and urban. Culturally rich and agriculturally rich. This Typewriter Rodeo poem celebrates farms and gardens of all shapes and sizes. It came by request from Texas Standard listener Finegan at Steelbow Farm.

Farmland

That delicious
Texas peach?
That fresh pecan
In your pie?
That arugula and okra
The carrot and canteloupe
The beets and broccoli and bright
Red radishes?
Yeah you might think
They just Harry Potter POOF
Appear on the store shelves
But all across the state
Plains to piney woods
Tiny plots to huge swaths
There are the planters and tenders
But also, beneath it all
The land
And so yes, we can pave and drill
We can level and put up fences
Even build shiny boxy homes
But without a little bit (or a lot)
Of protection and foresight
Well
There are two kinds of growth
Don’t over-tend to one
At the expense
Of the other.

A photo of the typewritten poem on a torn half-sheet of light yellow paper.

typewriter rodeo logoTypewriter Rodeo airs each Friday on Texas Standard. Send us your ideas for a poem on FacebookTwitter, or send us an email.

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