Today the prompt is to be an archeologist of the future.
The Horses.
I remember my grandfather telling me that his
Grandfather had learned to work with the horses.
When they came back, exactly as Edwin Muir predicted.
And now, today, I do not understand what there was
To be learned about them, for they work
Alongside us each day, never tiring and always, always
Understanding the intricacies of the jobs we have to do.
One day, at school, we were told we should bring a trowel
And wear older clothes that were hard-wearing, for we were
Going to dig at the site of the old farm, to see what we could find
About those long ago days, to see if we could discover how they
Had managed, in the days before the horses came back.
We dug slowly at first, looking aways for a find, a thing,
A something that would puzzle but also enlighten.
Then we got bored and someone went home for a shovel.
And the digging was faster now, with those of us not digging
Sifting through the soil, a rough job, but we wanted to be
The first to turn up a new find, that special thing.
We came back the next day, and the next as well.
Someone brought a horse and plough, and we turned
The ground to make it quicker and easier to dig.
Then there was a shout, a cry of shock.
The shovel had hit something metallic.~
We crowded round the hole, and those in the depths
Shovelled dirt to those on the surface, and
It was barrowed away and piled up until there
Was a new hill at the back of the old farm paddock.
Once the metal was clear of soil, we hooked ropes
Round it and used the horse to pull it up.
And that is how we found the tractor.
Some say that having tractors now would be quicker
And more efficient than the horses.
But others say not, else why would tractors have
Fallen into disuse, and why did the horses come back?
(c) 2ndwitch, 26/04/17
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