The Farmers’ Jubilee
Yom Kippur time – look back, ahead
To now – this day before we're dead;
For me this year it's cash and kind –
That tangled part of life – unwind.Assurance of God's care above
Amidst a world of push and shove;
Of panic; ebb and flow of herd;
Of gain quick-seized at tipster’s word.Of keys to culture’s inner core –
That ugly face which strives for ‘more’;
Of families torn by crushing debt;
Of hope that springs eternal – yet –Those systems which no longer help,
Like agribusiness, and the yelp
Of braying wolves outside their door –
With rain this year, and stressful score.How hard for farm-kids early raised
In days when farming always paid,
Now finding it a sad mirage,
As bankers walk through seized garage.This year another crop will fail,
From input costs, from rain, and hail
Across the prairies – now's the crunch –
The crushing blow – this day – ’fore lunch.Time was, it says in scripture clear,
On Yom Kippur – this time of year –
Each fifty years there'd be a time
When “Jubilee” gave back what's thine.Imagine that – reset the clocks,
Not “daylight saving” shifts, but blocks
Of farmland, given back once more
To families – even up the score.For systems have their little day,
And, by and large, it works to play
Within the rules of buy and sell;
But systems flawed make frequent hell.So best to zero out, restart,
Each fifty years, push back the dark
Which creeps into our ways of life,
Relieving stress for farmer, wife –Admit our frailty – not just “me” –
But in our gleaming structures see
That all are flawed, though helpful tool –
“Here – take what's yours – belongs to you –“Let's start again, reset the clock,
Here's back your land – now, let us talk
Of how we might from here proceed
With less of stress, pervasive greed.”So at the Shofar's mournful blast,
Yom Kippur's Jubilee at last,
Would ease for folks what we can't ease
Ourselves from here – upon our knees.But deeper yet – what if this day
Saw justice done to Native way
Of life, as land once seized went back
To rightful owners, who now lack –A place within this global town –
“Can't work” I hear, “just look around –
Six billion, seven, swirl on this globe
It's far too big to walk that road”.Perhaps – but how ’bout half a cup –
A bit of justice, right things up –
Turn over land carte-blanche that's theirs,
And then together make repairs.Outrageous in our sinful ways
Of seizing all we see that pays –
That's best corrected with an act
Of kind, outrageous, giving back.Yom Kippur, time to re-collect
The best in life, lest we forget
We are, throughout the globe, all kin,
With greatness, yes, but marred by sin.Lord, enter in all hearts today;
Help us forgive; regret to say;
Move on from here at Shofar's blast;
And grow to be mature at last.navigation