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Laughing Corn

by Carl Sandburg, 1918

There was a high majestic fooling
 Day before yesterday in the yellow corn.

 And day after to-morrow in the yellow corn
 There will be high majestic fooling.

 The ears ripen in late summer
 And come on with a conquering laughter,
 Come on with a high and conquering laughter.

 The long-tailed blackbirds are hoarse.
 One of the smaller blackbirds chitters on a stalk
 And a spot of red is on its shoulder
 And I never heard its name in my life.

 Some of the ears are bursting.
 A white juice works inside.
 Cornsilk creeps in the end and dangles in the wind.
 Always—I never knew it any other way—
 The wind and the corn talk things over together.
 And the rain and the corn and the sun and the corn
 Talk things over together.

 Over the road is the farmhouse.
 The siding is white and a green blind is slung loose.
 It will not be fixed till the corn is husked.
 The farmer and his wife talk things over together.

Published in Cornhuskers
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