Tuesday, March 22, 2022

City Kid

Red Barn Days

I was the city grandkid come to the country for a stay,
Challenging my Mam-maw to keep me out of her way,
The red barn out in the middle of the field,
Was the one my Pap-paw had to build,
That field enclosed in barbed-wire fencing,
Was full of thistle, and it took some convincing,
For my sister to run through the field with me,
Dodging briars and cow patties – that was key,
There was a large metal gate to drive the truck through,
I swung on that gate a time or two,
The pear trees stood just outside the gate,
Cattle stretched their necks across, then ate and ate,
The only milk cow was housed in the barn stall,
Mam-maw’s milking stool was so very small,
Old Jersey cow, I helped milk her in the morning,
“Don’t let her kick over the bucket”- that was my warning,
For my grandmother, it was a chore, but for me it was fun,
If a cow approached me though, I would run,
The rainwater trough was full to the brim,
And I remember only a few of them,
Slurping up water on a hot summer’s day,
When the grass was gone, Pap-paw fed them hay,
At one time, there were also pigs in a pen,
A big mama sow and piglets, when I was about ten,
We had to “slop the hogs” on our way to milk,
And they were lounging in mud as smooth as silk,
“Watch and don’t step in a cow pile”- Mam-maw would say,
But sometimes I accidentally did anyway,
She shook her head when I did,
For after all, I was the city kid!

Tammy Harvey
Written: 2/16/2022



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