Summer Solstice - a poem from 2005 by founder Oakes Plimpton

Summer Solstice

Full moon, evening star out on the night before the Solstice.
Summer is already here though, contrary to the weatherman;
Flowers blooming, warm days - OK cloudy and cool this June,
But nice and hot this very day!

Is it not too ordinary around here?!
No all night Scandinavian bacchanal where the sun never sets!
Could we build cairns of stones and have the drama of ritual dance?
We can rise at sunrise at Robbin's Farm and say a few well-chosen words.
But will it live up to primitive ritual - to the Druids of Stonehenge!?

Do you not wish you lived then??
When I was seventeen I attended a Shoshone sun ceremony,
All night long drums and dance in a great tent
Until the sun rose in the East. Then the great Chief spoke!
Who shall speak for us?? Well, we will gather still and see the sun arise.

Robbins Farm, once a farm, is a park on a hill with a view of all of Boston. 6/5/05

Notes from the Field – Dan's Farm Haiku

We have only one
Summer each year so we must
Grow all that we can

It is not easy
To enter each day ready
To learn the hard way

August: The Grinder
Each morning feels earlier
Each dusk sore and spent

August is sweeter
Buried under tomatoes
A gift of wild grapes

How fortunate to
Spend my days side by side with
Loved ones with questions

To spend my summer
With new faces taking turns
Asking "Is this it?"

"Is this the right way?"
"Is this the time to harvest it?"
"Are these the weeds?"

Weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds
Weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds
Weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds

We are tilting now
Toward shorter days and cool nights
Or that illusion

Days can be fickle
Impossible to predict
At this time of year

Let the melon juice
Run down your chin. Relish that.
It does not last long.

Enjoy the harvest,
Dan, for the farm staff