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This is a part of a story that I am writing. But this story isn't one that I'm writing down in a notebook or a diary, it's being written in my heart and I've decided to share small bits of it with you. It doesn't exactly have chapters or anything, but there are just certain things that happen and so I write about them as they occur, which makes since if you think about it.

The main character is a gleaner, also known as a reaper (someone who collects a harvest), or even simpler than that: a farmer. Mostly it's a description of the work he does and what it's like for him to be doing it. I don't really care if this gets comments or not. I'm just letting his story be told because I felt like putting it down somewhere out in the open. You can form whatever opinion you'd like about this poem, and I will tell you that I most likely won't care what you have to say.

So anyway, here is this somewhat long entry.
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Title: The Gleaner

I am the gleaner
Farmer of the earth
With worn down hands
And nothing to do other than work
Work to make others than myself happy

But I am okay with this task
I was born to have this burden
My father and others before him
We were destined and we are fine with this destiny
I am not satisfied with my work, but that's okay

Wiping the sweat from my brow
Each day is another challenge
Take out the hoe and till the ground
Work the earth each day with my two small hands
To make a harvest for everyone

Plant the seeds, row by row
Each to their own little hole
How cozy those little seeds must be
Lying in the earth so perfectly happy
Knowing that they will grow to be something beautiful

Water the seeds with love and hope
I must give my all in this work
To glean is my fate and I must perform well
Without words I know I'm being judged
But that's okay; fear won't get the best of me

I wait with patience for the seeds
One by one they start to come out
Babies crying out for sunlight and air
Just like little sheep
I must guide them and keep them safe

More water and more love
Each day seems longer than the last
But surely I'll be rewarded for my hard work
Time is still passing by me
It's okay because I know how to wait

Sometimes it rains in my little world
I welcome it but quickly bid it farewell
I don't like it when the sky is dark
The sun is mother and father
Punishing and loving to me and my work

Wait and wait and wait and watch them grow
Slowly the seedlings turn larger
I smile to myself, seeing my efforts showing
Some of them have bumps and bruises
But just like me, they'll be okay

My little ones have grown
Those seeds are now ripe and merry
What beautiful reds and golds and browns
Like flames that never burn or die
These plants are my treasure

More precious than rubies or gold to me
These small friends of mine
See how they sparkle and glisten in the light
Nothing could replace these fruits of my soul
But still, oh still, I must give them away

To you young man, and you miss
The harvest of my heart has arrived
You take a piece, and you there too, sir
I give away small pieces of me
Pieces that may never come back, but that's okay

For I am the gleaner and I must work hard
To stand as tall as I do now
And not let my back bend over
As weak and exhausted as I feel
I have to keep going for eternity

Forever and ever
But I won't be all alone
Each time my harvest comes and goes
I make new friends, new plants to comfort my soul
And our friendships may not last forever, but that's okay

Because even if I'm all alone
When all of the friends I had wither away
Even when all of my tools crack and rust
I'll still be okay even when my hands break
With the earth beneath my feet, I'll last for eternity
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