The cornfield looks disheveled

Prized corn freshly harvested

Tracks from the machinery

Brown foliage and broken stalks

Irrigation machinery lays idle

Having yielded their fruits

Plants are doomed to shrivel and die

Preserving the nutrients in the soil

Later the dry stalks are cut and removed

Opening up the field to full view

Void of all plant and animal life

Bare naked ground offers no cover

The field lays empty all winter

Lashed by rain and snow

Frozen on bitter cold dark nights

Raked by plows in the spring

Soon it will be time for planting

The farmer prays for good weather

Not too much rain he hopes

Young plants emerge

Growing fast in the early summer sun

Long hot summer is here at last

The baked ground irrigated daily

The corn field is full and proud

Soon it will be harvest time

Giant monster machines arrive

Roaming through the fields

Like marauding soldiers

With no resisting enemy

Eating up the corn husks

Pausing occasionally

To empty their bellies

into waiting trucks

The corn is quickly hauled off

A few days later

The battlefield lies silent

Slain corn plants litter the ground

Like fallen forgotten soldiers

The fresh corn is now at market

Soon to be served on plates

Or processed into food

Next time you eat fresh corn

Remember the fallen soldiers