Garrison Keiller interviewed the Dairy Princess
and her Court at the Minnesota State Fair;
They spoke, each in turn,
of their family’s farms and dairy herds.
One girl talked about her family’s 27 Holsteins
and the work on a full time farm.

Pride glistened in their voices,
pride in the being from and the returning to.
Girls with rich, clear voices
and strong hands and strong wills
to stand against the giants who are stealing our land
and grinding up our farmsteads.

My god, what’s happened to our pride
in 27 cows
and putting up the garden
and cultivating corn
and making a life and a living
on our own land.

Whatever happened to the sheer joy
of work preformed in hope;
an ordinary meal made from scratch
and served with love
and lingered over.

There is hope though, I think, A place apart
from the virtual,
the industrial,
and the supercenter.
There is food that tastes good
and work that matters
and a life worth living.

At least there is in Minnesota.