there is a risk of the iowa pork queen being run out of buisness, this made me sad, so i wrote a poem about it

when I lived in Iowa this was the sort of poem that would have really annoyed me anthony I gotta say - does it not condescend? for example, wsj aritcle notwithstanding, isn't the time when "the iowa pork queen was a hot commodity at stores nationwide" a mythologized past: which has been mythologized specifically in order to mourn its loss?

still, the cadence of yr second stanza is ace

i am actually not condsecending, i live in alberta which means im one generation away from the family farm--i miss the family farm. im scared about agribuisness, im actually really serious about the culture disappearing to multinationals--and i am serious about making sure that the idea of laments, esp. rural laments remain--in an honest, life of the culture way--like clare more then wordswroth.

fair enough! the family farm in Iowa has been dead for at least 20 years, maybe more - sure there are still a few but Big Ag took over a long time ago. which seems to suit most Iowans just fine - I wonder whether poets etc (meaning no disrespect, game recognize game) don't/didn't love the family farm rather better than the people suffering its loss