The Farmer’s Son

~ Paul Szlosek
photostudio_1590045944957
The Author From Over a Half Century Ago

Loyal readers (if indeed I do actually have any) may recall me mentioning in a previous post back in May a couple of good friends of mine, the very talented poet Curt Curtin and his wife Dee O’ Connor. In the last few months, they generously helped me put together my first real book of poetry, a still yet unpublished chapbook entitled The Farmer’s Son (I have been writing poetry for over fifty years, and believe it or not, this is my first attempt to gather together a volume of my poems for actual publication). Today I would like to share with you the title poem of this collection.

I am not sure if I can claim this poem written about my father Winslow Szlosek, who passed away 26 years ago last month, is the best one I ever written, but definitely my most award-winning and most published as well as a personal favorite, It won first place in The Landmark’s annual poetry contest in 1998, and as I understand one of the reasons why I was awarded the Jacob Knight Poetry Prize in 2001. The poem was subsequently published in Sahara (2001), The Randolph Herald (2018) and numerous times online. Here it is:

The Farmer’s Son

On a certain June evening,
unable to descend
into the shadowy depths of sleep,
I find myself back
in the back of a pickup truck,
seven years old and pining away
for the Saturday morning cartoons
I’ll be missing.

My mom’s at the wheel,
steering the old Ford
down the rock infested path
to the potato field.

My two sisters are already there,
so eager to begin, they are digging
with their bare hands, the soil accumulating
in back quarter moons at the tips of their nails.
And my dad, he’s perched high in the seat of the John Deere
staring straight ahead, as steel fingers
rake the earth behind him.

It’s our job to walk these trenches,
trying to tell the dirt-encrusted spuds from stones,
dropping our bounty in to burlap feed bags
slung over our shoulders.

I do not care to be here,
laboring under the morning sun.
I do not care for potatoes
except for their names:
Kennebec, Catawba, Green Mountain,
names too exotic, too divine
for such bland-tasting fleshy tubers.
I believe they are really the names
of foreign kingdoms,
lands of of untold wonders.

I am the farmer’s son,
but not a good one.
I am, by nature, an indoor child
grown pasty by the blue light
of the television screen,
a pale boy who prefers
school work to farm work,
who withers and faints
while picking string beans
in the summer heat.

My dad conceals his disappointment
in a son who does not share
his love for the land
he has toiled for his entire life.
Yet somehow he understands
and tries not to push me so hard.

Perhaps he recognizes
I am not a crop to be cultivated,
but more like a weed
which must spread its roots
wherever it pleases to survive.

And now once again,
it’s thirty years in the future,
the path I chose, led
not to the potato field,
but this cramped city apartment
where I lie in an unmade bed,
trying to come to grips
with the passing of my father,
harvesting longings and regrets.

It is soul, not soil
I dig through now
and what I uncover may not be
as comforting as potatoes.

—Paul Szlosek (originally published in The Landmark)

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed my poem “The Farmer’s Son”.  As a bonus (or perhaps a punishment?) for those readers who may be curious what I look and sound like now, please click here for a video of me reading it out loud.

Unknown's avatar

Published by Paul Szlosek

Paul Szlosek was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts, but currently resides in the nearby metropolis of Worcester. He was co-founder and host of the long-running Poet’s Parlor poetry reading in Southbridge and Sturbridge, as well as a past recipient of the Jacob Knight Award for Poetry. His poems have appeared in various local publications including the Worcester Review, Worcester Magazine, Sahara, Concrete Wolf, and Diner. He’s probably best known in the Worcester poetry community for his fanatical obsession with obscure poetry forms, and has invented his own including the ziggurat, the streetbeatina, and (most recently) the hodgenelle.

40 thoughts on “The Farmer’s Son”

  2. As I have not read all of your poetry, I cannot say this is your best work. But I can tell you that this is an exceptional poem, worthy of the praise and accolades it has already received. It will serve well as the title poem to your book. I look forward to your publication and an opportunity to own the words you have crafted over the years. Congratulations Paul!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Brad, your generous feedback and support! I am still in the process of sending it to publishers, but if it does get acc and published, I will definitely let you know. Actually I did hear from one small press who expressed interest in publishing my work but unfortunately doesn’t publish chapsbooks. They want me to expand it by 30 or 40 pages, which right now I am a bit reluctant to do..

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I would love the idea of having more of your poetry to read, but you must do what is best for you. Best of luck and please let me know when you have someone on board!

        Like

    1. Thank you so much! My father was indeed very wise! He was part of the generation of Fathers who did not express his affection for his children with his words as much as his deeds.I am still looking for a publisher, but I am hoping to find a home for it soon…😀

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. This is so moving. Our parents never do leave the deepest parts of who we are. And what a wise father yours proved to be. My grandfather was not so forgiving of his son, but my father let both of his be who they wanted to be. (K)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. What a lovely piece. I can just see your father on his tractor and this reluctant child working the field, unhappy in some far away place. I really enjoyed your work on Brad’s post as well. Very nicely done. Looking forward to reading more. Love to you and yours. ❤️ Joni

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. I really enjoyed your poem about the Farmer’s Son. You tell such a great story and your ending says it all. Too late be begin farming the soul!
    Congratulations on your new book!
    Dwight

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. Wonderful.
    I’ve been so preoccupied with the et al. in life that I allowed you to slip beneath my radar and for that I apologize.
    Visiting your sites then watching you read your own poetry have been like opening a jewelery box for me.
    John Ormsby

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to Paul Szlosek Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.