Alice sat beside the kitchen table,
The kerosene lamp casting flickering shadows
Around the room. She gave the lump of dough
Its final kneading; pulled it into lumps
For loaves of bread.
She placed them in greased pans,
Covered them with waxed paper;
Then set them in a warm spot on the range.
In the night they would rise and take shape
For tomorrow’s baking.
She was washing her hands when she heard his steps.
Hurrying to the door she met him and gently held him there.
“Let’s sit a while”, she said.
Oral removed his old straw hat,
Hanging it on a hook in the hall, he stepped to the porch.
They sat down on the bench to rest
In the cool of the summer evening.
It had been a long day for both.
She had done the washing, cooked, cleaned, and other chores.
He was weary from haying; the timothy crop was good;
But the price was low.
Many shocks now stood in the field;
The timothy seed would provide some cash after threshing,
Help on the debts.
“The binder’s getting old,” he said. “It takes much repair.”
After a pause, “Must have been ninety in the field today.”
“I got twelve eggs today, I’m proud of those hens.
My, what a relief.”
As a soft breeze stirred the evening quiet.
“The price of oats is up, guess I sold too early.”
“How does one know? The butter and egg money well help,
But school is not far away; the boys will need clothes.”
“At least we got the loan and the farm is still ours,
And that took some doing. We got Shriver quieted down,
With those debts paid he’s off our backs now.”
The red sun had dropped behind the orchard
As the peace of twilight cast a protective spell.
The locusts sang their nightly melody.
“When is the first payment due?”
“September fifteenth, it will come fast.
Too fast to get what we need, with all the other expense.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll make it somehow; we always have.
This isn’t our first bad year.”
The cat rubbed against his leg.
He reached down to pet Slurpy; she was so soft,
What matter how she ate, she was a good cat.
“I’ve been thinking about our future.
We’ve got to face it.”
“Oh Oral, you scare me. There’s got to be some better way.”
“There is no other way. You have the boys to help you.
They will lend Fred a hand with the threshing.
I’ve got to go.”
A chill ran down her spine.
“How do you know you can find a job?”
“I did it before; I know the hardware business,
I’ve got to try. Des Moines is not that far away.”
He put his arm around her and squeezed,
He saw a tear cascade down her cheek.
“Yes the boys will be a big help, but I’ll worry about you.”
“I’ll be all right, but I sure hate to leave.”
He paused. “It’s the only way.
With my salary we can make the loan payments;
We can save the farm.”
“When would we move?” she asked.
“I don’t know; we’ll just take a day at a time.
We’ll work it out.”
They sat quietly for a long time.
It began to grow dark.
“Fred will bring the boys home at eight,
I told Florence they could stay for supper.”
A full moon cast a faint glow on the porch floor.
The cat was curled at their feet, purring.
“When will you go?”
“Tomorrow.”
(September 1995)