The Farmer’s Desk

We had a late night. Five friends from Knoxville came out and dined with us on lamb, greens and grits. So, when I came downstairs to write the weekly blog at 5:30, nothing was stirring the little gray cells. Except, back in the dusty shelves of my brain, I recognized something familiar. Clifford Harper, an old anarchist illustrator, had done a wonderful drawing of a militant’s desk, chock-full of representations of that life. As I stared at my keyboard and my desk I made the comparison.

So, with considerably less artistry, I give you the “Farmer’s Desk”.

Everyone have a great week.

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Reading this weekend: A Peter Lovesey mystery. And, I’m trying to read John Clare’s Shepherd’s Calendar. But, true confession time, long poems are a bit like opera and ballet. While I may appreciate the skill and artistry, the native understanding eludes me.

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9 thoughts on “The Farmer’s Desk

  1. What is that pink thing smothered by the big knife?
    Looks about right.

    reading poetry is work
    yet working your way through it
    in the middle of a line
    you are interrupted by the thought that
    that mulberry may require
    a little more space
    permanently confronted
    by a sweet cherry neighbour
    as it now is

    • Those are handy little plastic hooks for working with electric fencing. A lot of electric fencing repairs are just pulling brush off the lines or pulling a hot wire out of the dirt. I use these to hook and hold the wire, no need to turn it off unless you have a major repair to complete.

      And, yes, in the middle of the verse mulberry trees appear, fig trees or any of a million other random thoughts. I’ll find myself two pages further on with no recollection of how I arrived.

  2. I’ve had the great privilege – oh, let’s just say it – the great honor to observe that very desk in person. I still have a picture of your laptop along side mine. And while there is no falsehood passed in presenting this picture as it is – I think you bury the lead. This desk sits within a very nice little library (would VERY nice fit better?). So the representations of the farmer’s life (or some sampling thereof) are on display, but the whole of the environment gets short shrift.

    There are several books piled there on the left, and one across the way. So some hint of the library is on offer. I suppose folk might work with that to build their own internal image.

    I do have a question. The coffee cup sits to the left of the computer keyboard, on a coaster, alongside a pen. Is this farmer then left handed?

    • Bonus points, Clem, for the nod to the library and the visit. Coffee, I find is consumed best by whatever fashion allows it to cross the tongue. The brain synapses don’t seem to care if I used my right or left hand in the conveyance. So, in answer, no, I’m a rightie. The pen is random, where I dropped it.

  3. Mangles – will you be making a Traulicht then 🙂 ?
    The fig tree question I hope to have solved today. May take a few poems more with the quince(s).

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