FOLK COLLECTION 11: The Skaggs Foundation Cowboy Poetry Collection
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The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
6
John William Kulm
A Shovel
Just give me one thing: A double-aught shovel, as sophisticated as Roy Clark in a Calvin Klein ad pickin' and grinnin' his way across the bare-blazing belly-buttons of the anorexic too-cool-to-smile fashion toothpicks.
shovel, bank, quality
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
9
John William Kulm
Things I Recall
Six march side-by-side: Mechanical planter units on a tool bar.
memory, youth, farming
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
13
John William Kulm
Next Year Country
Tradition in our family goes way back four generations, three traditions: It was work and it was hope and it was always disappointment.
tradition, new year, spring
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
16
John William Kulm
A Thirty-three Horse Team
My grandfather had a team of thirty-three draft horses to pull the wheat harvester through the fields.
harvester, horses, history
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
17
John William Kulm
Cemetery
There's a cemetery in this wheat field. I don't know where. Boxed up homesteaders hidden away.
cemetery, lost, mystery
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
19
John William Kulm
Not a Farmer
When I turned 21 my dad took me to the tavern in town where farmers sit around and talk. Every farmer who came in would join us there at our table. Then a guy came in who wasn't a farmer but we all knew the guy.
career, tavern, occupation
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
22
John William Kulm
Halfway Empty
Then I left the farm to work inside an office I was wisened up to understand how good I had it back there on the farm with a solitude so perfect, so immensely peaceful silent you could hear the sunlight pouring down -
alone, busy, office
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
27
John William Kulm
Who Am I to Quit?
My father was a farmer: one of the first potato growers in the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project commissioned by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
wheat, history, family
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
28
John William Kulm
A Real Farmer
Here's what a real farmer is: A real farmer is one of those relentless saps who doesn't quit the business even when there's a chance to get out like I did,
farmer, determination, bank
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
30
John William Kulm
The Well
When my great-grandfather came to this country in 1902 he filed a homestead claim. He was the sone of a farmer and his father was the son of a farmer.
family, russia,immigration
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
32
John William Kulm
Like A Real Person
My parents sold the farm, and this was the plan all along because this is their retirement. They don't have IRAs or mutual funds. After decades here, the final act of business would be sell. My parents sold the farm. Goodbye.
sale, farm, decisions
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
37
John William Kulm
My Parents Got a Letter
My parents got a letter after all the packing and preparation to move away. They got a letter from the person who was buying their farm.
letter, trust, sale
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
40
John William Kulm
I Wish I Was Smart Like Alan Greenspan
I wish I wish I wish I was smart like Alan Greenspan able to see into the future... using math to calculate the endless lines of cause and effect like a Hindu lama tracing the twisted consequences of an economic karma;
intelligence, wealth, money
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
42
John William Kulm
You Can Always Find Work
Months of job seeking, having been forever self-employed. No history of working for a company on anyone else's degree. Qualified for everything and nothing.
work, service, government
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
46
John William Kulm
Sixteen Minutes of Hail
Wiping his cheek on his sleeve, blowing his nose with his thumb, I saw a farmer cry.
hail, rain, harvest
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
50
John William Kulm
Farm Town
She's elderly, and she says she hates being called elderly.
town, farmhouse, elderly
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
53
John William Kulm
The Moment I Quit
I can remember the moment when I decided to quit farming, sitting at my desk, working the numbers in Excel at year's end.
family life, economy, bills
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
57
John William Kulm
Twenty-two Months
Twenty-two months after I told my parents I had to quit farming my dad died.
death, pain, memory
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
59
John William Kulm
Sometimes He'd Fall Asleep
Sometimes he'd fall asleep in his pickup truck in the sun on a cool afternoon, and I'd check in on him to make sure he hadn't passed away
sleep, memory, father
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
60
John William Kulm
Old
He's old, and he knows he's old. The very first time I knew my dad was old was fifteen years ago inside a corral in a snowstorm
old, age, memory
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
62
John William Kulm
As My Dada Usd to Say
He called me "Bud", and he's the only person who ever called me by that name.
nickname, corn, teasing
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
67
John William Kulm
Where the Grass Grows
The grass sure grows in the pasture around that fencpost
grass, greed, pasture
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
68
John William Kulm
I Take Walks at Night
I take walks at night under the stars and though stars out over the farm are sure bright where the night is darker
night, walk, exercise
The Five Stages of Quitting Farming
John William Kulm
FOLK COLL 11 K-36
71
John William Kulm
Something Occurred
Something occurred to me when I was puttering with a patch of peas in my garden.
garden, harvest, berries
Round Legs: A Photographic Essay
Sam Agins
FOLK COLL 11 A-25
Singin' Sam Agins
photos, poetry, display