BETTING THE FARM500
Don’t put your trust in the words of men, whose riches explode with the swipe of a pen.
Jennifer lived on a beautiful farm,
With crops in the meadows and beasts in the barn.
She rollicked and frolicked between the corn rows,
And into the stream beds she dangled her toes.
Bees buzzed between flowers, and apples grew round,
The farm hands were happy while plowing the ground.
The farmer, he prospered, along with his wife,
Together this family had built a good life.
Then one day a salesman arrived at their door,
And promised the farmer his land could do more.
By using a product designed just for them,
The promise was vast but the details were thin.
It will kill every pest! Said the salesman, and more…
It won’t harm the beasts in the barnyard for sure!
When promises sounded too good to be true,
The salesman showed data to prove what he knew.
The fine print was extensive, yet promised a lot,
And progress could help them, the old farmer thought.
He scoured the contracts, then signed on the dot,
Finally satisfied thinking about what he’d got.
When summer rolled ‘round, Jen watched through the glass
As tractors rolled in with huge tanks full of gas.
And the men at the wheels looked like they must be hot,
In their space suits and gloves, that’s what Jennifer thought.
The farm paused, to let the new pesticide dry,
With the promise that soon all the bad pests would die.
But when once again hands were returned to the field,
To gather the harvest and figure the yield…
They were met with a quiet only they understood,
No honeybees buzzing, no chirps from the wood.
When Jen dangled her feet in her beautiful stream,
Dead fish floated by; their dull eyes held no gleam
From the trees that she climbed when she finally looked down,
She spied honeybees everywhere, dead on the ground.
When she bit into apples which once were delicious,
A chemical residue made her suspicious.
How could this happen? The farmer opined,
To the salesman who now rarely answered his line.
I don’t understand with the promise you gave,
How my farm has declined ‘till it feels like a grave.
“It’s not from our product,” was the company’s claim,
“If your farm is dying, you’re surely to blame!”
“We’ve farmed generations,” the farmer replied,
“If my farm’s now dying, it’s because you LIED!”
“We’ve reams full of data, came the salesman’s retort.”
“You can shove all your data, I’ll see you in COURT!”
The farmer sat down with his head in his hands
Wondering how to proceed to try saving his lands.
He filed with the county, then filed with the State,
Which granted extensions in resolving his fate.
As the court case dragged on, while the government buffered,
His farm grew more fallow, and his family suffered.
This magnificent farm, once so vibrant with care,
Now had nowhere to turn, and no means to repair.
For a decade, the farmer has watched in despair,
Through the glass, now, with Jennifer in her wheelchair.
~ by Taree Belardes
NYC MIDNIGHT
RHYMING STORY COMP Rnd 2
Feb. 2023 500 words
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