Abraham Lincoln

Address to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society

Every blade of grass is a study;
And to produce two,
Where there was but one,
Is both a profit and a pleasure.
And not grass alone;
But soils, seeds, and seasons –
Hedges, ditches, and fences,
Draining, droughts, and irrigation —
Plowing, hoeing, and harrowing –
Reaping, mowing, and threshing –
Saving crops, pests of crops, diseases of crops,
And what will prevent or cure them –
Implements, utensils, and machines,
Their relative merits, and [how] to improve them –
Hogs, horses, and cattle –
Sheep, goats, and poultry –
Trees, shrubs, fruits, plants, and flowers –
The thousand things of which these are specimens –
Each a world of study within itself.

— Abraham Lincoln

I stole this “found poem” from Lance Mannion who in turn got it from Fred Kaplan’s book Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer (Harper Collins 2008) I figured this being Lincoln’s bicentenniel and Kentucky’s celebration being in full swing, well, it would be appropriate to approprate Lincoln as a Kentucky poet this National Poetry Month.

Possibly related posts:

Thou bright spot on earth

A cork

Indigenous

Some recommended reading

Three Little Words

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