Tracks divided the small town into a northern and a southern half

Neither side, though, seemed that much better than the other

But the town was small, not a hundred yards past the tracks on either side 

And divisions by social status were limited mostly to one’s mind

In successful times, there had been a doctor, a dentist, and a pharmacist

Enough business too for more than one grocery and one clothing store

There had been several restaurants and bars and even a large hotel

Several of the local girls worked there, some not so honorably I suspect

Two hardware stores, one large and successful, the other small and not

A  showroom for Buicks, tractors on the back lot, implements down the road

A large hatchery too provided employment for some

As did an elevator for loading grain into long strings of rail cars

But mostly that town served the needs of farmers near and far

Came to fill what needs they had as farmers, and as people just like us

Everything they’d need, but couldn’t build or do themselves

For farmers are a cleaver, hard working lot with many skills

But even farmers’ calloused hands had no time nor talent for some things

Like those new hybrid seeds and fertilizers that gave the better yield

But required new implements to till and harvest, maybe a larger tractor 

The town would provide, of course, for there was profit to be made

The stately bank would loan the money, against collateral of course  

A harvest that, at market some months hence, would surly exceed its cost

Enough for the kids new shoes, maybe something nice to wear to church

Maybe even enough to dream of things seen in catalogs with shiny pages

But so much for the farmers, I’m sad to say, they  became a dying breed

Their sons had fought a war and had seen the world beyond

And learned trades that paid far better with less work and time involved

Some even had gained a higher education, became bankers perhaps

The family farm could survive no more, not without capital for expansion

The bigger farms had the bigger tractors and bought up the smaller farms

Then the corporations bought even the largest farms for consolidation

In the end the city banks owned everything, the farmers worked for them