Soil Songs (Rock 'N Soil)

Ode To Mud Boy
by James Montgomery (somewhere in South Dakota)

Earth, muck, clay, loam, dirt, mud, dust by whatever name I call it,
it comes up the same.

breeding ground for larvae;
needed meals for worms;
snack time for children;
hiding spots for germs.

Where killers plant their nasty deeds,
where flowers fight with vicious weeds; where sunshine never sets its beam,
where things just ain't what they seem.

Now Bob is playing in the dirt,
the muck, clay, loam, and mud;
Under guise of observation,
understanding and instruction.

Yet hear me tell you far and wide,
don't listen to him or his aside ñ
he's only PLAYING in the dirt,
he's only PLAYING in the mud;
he's only PLAYING in the muck,
the earth, the dust, the loam, the "yuk"...

he's only PLAYING, I tell you,
he's just a kid -- a kid, it's true.
And while he plays he'll pretend
to observe, conserve, instruct and then:

he'll go home muddy, dirty and tired,
telling his tale of how hard he aspired: to understand the dirt, the dust ñ
the earth, the muck, and even the rust.