He started with half a pasture
and a grove of Soil Bank ash
when farms were selling faster
after a market crash.
He posted "Vulture Acres"
by the dirt track to his shack
on land no other takers
sought at the auction block.
Leasing fields from neighbors
who were old or going broke,
he shouldered barnyard labours
as an ox shoulders a yoke.
He built a cedar smokehouse
where his culled sows were cured
and added a redwood ranch house
when his cash flow was assured.
But he also bought the scripture
that told him all was dust,
however lush the pasture
where someone else went bust.
and a grove of Soil Bank ash
when farms were selling faster
after a market crash.
He posted "Vulture Acres"
by the dirt track to his shack
on land no other takers
sought at the auction block.
Leasing fields from neighbors
who were old or going broke,
he shouldered barnyard labours
as an ox shoulders a yoke.
He built a cedar smokehouse
where his culled sows were cured
and added a redwood ranch house
when his cash flow was assured.
But he also bought the scripture
that told him all was dust,
however lush the pasture
where someone else went bust.
