Corn
August 25, 2006 Friday 3PM CT
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The story of corn is fundamental to the development and history of the Americas. This hour on Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders, Jean and her guests discuss the story of Corn.
Guest
- Roberto Rodriguez, a graduate student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Agricultural Journalism.
- Betty Fussell, author of The Story of Corn
Poems About Corns
Song in the Garden of the House of God (from the Navajo corn-planting ritual)
Truly in the east
The white bean
And the great corn plant
Are tied with the white lightening.
Listen! Rain approaches!
The voice of the bluebird is heard.
Truly in the east
The white bean
And the great squash
Are tied with the reainbow.
Listen! Rain approaches!
The voice of the bluebird is heard.
From the top of the great corn-plant the water gurgles, I hear it;
Around the roots the water foams, I hear it;
Around the roots of the plants it forams, I hear it;
From their tops the water foams, I hear it.
The cor grows up. The waters of the dark clouds drop, drop.
The rain descends. The waters from the corn leaves drop, drop.
The rain descends. The waters from the plants drop, drop.
The corn grows up. The waters of the dark mists drop, drop.
Shall I cull this fruit of the great corn-plant?
Shall you break it? Shall I break it?
Shall I break it? Shall you break it?
Shall I? Shall you?
Shall I cull this fruit of the great squash vine?
Shall you pick it up? Shall I pick it up?
Shall I pick it up? Shall you pick it up?
Shall I? Shall you?
Laughing Corn by Carl Sandburg
There was a high majestic fooling
Day before yesterday in the yellow corn.
And day after to-morrow in the yellow corn
There will be high majestic fooling.
The ears ripen in late summer
And come on with a conquering laughter,
Come on with a high and conquering laughter.
The long-tailed blackbirds are hoarse.
One of the smaller blackbirds chitters on a stalk
And a spot of red is on its shoulder
And I never heard its name in my life.
Some of the ears are bursting.
A white juice works inside.
Cornsilk creeps in the end and dangles in the wind.
Always I never knew it any other way.
The wind and the corn talk things over together.
And the rain and the corn and the sun and the corn
Talk things over together.
Over the road is the farmhouse.
The siding is white and a green blind is slung loose.
It will not be fixed till the corn is husked.
The farmer and his wife talk things over together.
Related Links
Listener Comments
- Shaun 8/26/06: "I was riveted listening to your show about corn ... I take dairy producers to Mexico to meet the families of their employees. It is a very cool experience. We normally go to very rural areas, way off the beaten path. I have seen so often in these rural villages the women making tortillas and masa. There is nothing that tastes quite like a freshly made tortilla right out of the hands of these women. I have tried several times to do it myself, and it is not that easy!! I think there is magic in their hands. Many of these women speak Nahuatl, and very little Spanish. The connection still to their roots is very direct."
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