Harvest Time
Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth
the combine has started an orbital
trajectory that circles and swoops
across the acres of ripe wheat
here and there are deviations
from the perfect curve
eccentricity is the rule
the wheat heads that wait
for the slicing bow shock of the blade
perturb and fuse the vision
look closer and you will see
the chaos of growth
with black maculi of seed heads
the woman measures
an orbital increase with each
passage of the combine
around and around
closer and closer
the blade creates a nebula
of exploded energy
caught ripe in its bins
as each stem is eclipsed
Pamela Olson, 4/2/09
For Read Write Poem
“stretchy metaphors”
and Poetry & Writers challenge
to use Andrew Wyeth’s painting
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