Julia Klatt Singer is the poet-in-residence at Grace Neighborhood Nursery School and works as a visiting writer to the school. She is coauthor of Twelve Branches: Stories From St. Paul (Coffee House Press, 2003) and author of a chapbook, In the Dreamed of Places (Naissance Press 2011) and, most recently, A Tangled Path to Heaven (North Star Press 2013). She has written 5 songs with composer Tim Tekach. When not writing she can be found walking the dog. Visit her website.
In the Fields
By Julia Klatt Singer
The rain is falling gently
on the soil and new shoots
of rye and sugar
beets, wheat.
on the soil and new shoots
of rye and sugar
beets, wheat.
The wind combs
the grass
swaying rustling harmony
This is an ocean
This is a sea
of grain and possibility.
Men have died waiting
for a rain like this. Have crossed
their arms in front of their heart
have tamped down their lips
Until their bodies
like their fields
turn to dust.
In the fields
the rain is falling
and I tell you
this is love.
This is the way
and where and why
our bodies
belong.
Men have died waiting
for a rain like this.
I like the images this takes my mind to.