Jump to Navigation

Harvest Tales - Smith County 02

Harvest stories submitted by Kansans for the online exhibit, Wheat People.
Submit your own at kshs.kansasmuseum@ks.gov.

Marjorie Maydew Bell

Wheat Harvest

Marjorie Maydew Bell wrote the following poem about harvest. She has been writing poetry as "The Farmer's Wife" for a number of years.

Wheat Harvest

The sun is shining in a cloudless sky
Strong winds are blowing hot and dry
The smell of summer is sticky and sweet
Fields are full of ripening wheat
Heads turn golden and then droop low
It's harvest time and it moves slow
Big combines turn into the fields
Like lumbering giants with spinning reels
They devour all that's in their path
Then separate the grain from chaff
It's augered to the bin on top
And when it's full then they must stop
Another auger slips into gear
And moves the wheat to a truck that's near
Then while they cut another load
The full truck hurries down the road
To the elevator and drives on scales
Check moisture and wheat with sample pails
Now dump your load with truck bed high
Then hurry back if grain is dry
At supper time a lunch is brought
Sandwiches, fruit, dessert and pop
Then long into the night they cut
'Til it gets tough with moisture up
This scene is repeated every day
Just work and work, no time for play
'Til all the grain is safely in
And this year's pay is in the bin.

"Harvest Tales" is part of the online exhibit, Wheat People:  Celebrating Kansas Harvest.