Agricultural Inspiration II

As promised, here are the next set of musings taken from Wendell Berry's "Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer."

                   VI
Beware of the machinery of longevity. When a man's life is over the decent thing is for him to die. The forest does not withhold itself from death. What it gives up it takes back.

                    VII
Put your hands into the mire. They will learn the kinship of the shaped and the unshapen, the living and the dead.

                    VIII
When I rise up
let me rise up joyful
like a bird.

When I fall
let me fall without regret
like a leaf.

                     IX
Sowing the seed,
my hand is one with the earth.

Wanting the seed to grow,
my mind is one with the light.

Hoeing the crop,
my hands are one with the rain.

Having cared for the plants,
my mind is one with the air.

Hungry and trusting,
my mind is one with the earth.

Eating the fruit,
my body is one with the earth.

                     X
Let my marriage be brought to the ground.
Let my love for this woman enrich the earth.

What is its happiness but preparing its place?
What is its monument but a rich field?