Child of the Farmhouse

Earlier this year, I submitted a poem to the Iowa Poetry Association's Lyrical Iowa Competion. The category I submitted the poem to was "The Grant Wood Country Poetry Award" - seeking submissions that were inspired by Grant Wood's artwork and sponsored by the Grant Wood Country Forum, an online art-history-culture-creative-writing community. Much to my delight, my poem entitled "Child of the Farmhouse" was selected as one of the award winners.

"Child of the Farmhouse" was inspired by one of Grant Wood's most famous pieces of art - "American Gothic". I've always been enamored by the piece - and honestly somewhat suspicious of those two stoic figures standing there in stillness in front of that farmhouse. As a child of the farmhouse myself, it was hard for me to believe that any farmers would stand still long enough to have themselves painted in such a way. Standing still was most certainly not something the farmers I knew ever did.

And so, "Child of the Farmhouse" was born - a story-poem written from the perspective of a little farmgirl looking out the window into that beautiful barnyard...and being quite sure that stillness of body and stillness of soul are often two very different things.

Look for the poem this fall - along with a collection of many other wonderful pieces by authors all across Iowa - published in the Iowa Poetry Association's 2024 anthology - Lyrical Iowa - which is due to be realeased in October.

...Be still, and know that I am God...

Psalm 46:10a

American Gothic (Grant Wood, 1930)