I wrote this poem

AN OLD MAN AND HIS TRACTORS

Donna Wood

October 25, 2015

dedicated to my husband, Clifford Wood

When I first met my husband he was quite the city guy.

He liked curvy women and fast cars and apple pie.

He told me we should marry, that I'd never come to harm.

But once our vows were spoken, he moved me to the farm.

We had to find a tractor, for a pasture must be mowed.

So we bought a rusty old Moline a little down the road.

And once we got a tractor, Cliff was bitten by the bug,

A slave to an obsession that's as bad as any drug.

     Now a young man with a tractor doesn't have a lot of time

     He has a job and family and can't spare an extra dime

     But if God grants him time enough, when he is old and gray

     He'll have a lot of tractors, and be smiling every day.

Cliff wakes up each morning with tractors on his mind.

Each day he searches Craigslist to see what he can find.

There's old John Deeres and Farmalls and Cockshutts and Molines

All he ever thinks about is rusty old machines.

His overalls are greasy, and his fingernails are, too.

As he beats on some old relic fifty years this side of new.

Don't think a tractor's hopeless when he's taking it apart,

Cause give him just a day or two, you'll hear that engine start.

     An old man with his tractor is a wonder to behold.

     He'll touch a rusty fender like it's something made of gold.

     I really can't explain it and I cannot tell you why,

     But an old man with a tractor is a special kind of guy.

Some men disappear and make you wonder where they've been,

But when Cliff disappears, I know he's in the shop again.

Old men that love tractors are the kind that stick around

They won't give up on marriage and they'll never let you down.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I've found it's not so bad

We've joined up with a tractor club. There's good times to be had.

I've surely learned the secret how to keep my husband mellow

Cause an old man with a tractor is a mighty happy fellow.

     An old man with his tractor is a wonder to behold.

     He'll touch a leaky fuel tank like it's something made of gold.

     I really can't explain it and I cannot tell you why,

     But an old man with a tractor is a special kind of guy.