Is It All Right, Stuart?

RAMROD ROWSHow similar they are, tall straight rowsof soldiers and corn that grow so fastyou can hear them in the night, must stepback quickly to keep from being hit bythe tears of joy that descend whilechildren become men as we watchthem sleeping. Corn shoots climb like Jack on his beanstalkto their certain end, tassels waving in thewind like celebrities' handkerchiefsunder the noses of starstruck admirers, hiding so much sweetness in theirbudding kernels they begin a descent totasteless in the instant of picking, stalks suddenly shorn and stacked in shocksonly if someone notices their lonelinessand binds them for company. Young menno more sophisticated than puppies growfrom baby to manhood long before experiencemakes them mature, the methods of war instilledas they stand ramrod, no tassels here, only flags waving and feet marching"hut, two, three, four," jab and pull, aim and shoot, fall and die, human stalks to turn brown, dry up, and become fodder.

Gerald T. Perkoff is a physician and Curators Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He and his wife of fifty-eight years have three children and five grandchildren. They live in Columbia, Missouri.