“These two
by now the sun this high
ought to be in mortal time about their businesses
Instead they linger here
within the patient fabric of the lives they wove
He asking the artist silently how much longer
And worrying about the crops
She no less concerned about the crops
But more to the point just now
Whether she remembered to turn off the stove.
––John Stone: American Gothic, after the 1930 painting by Grant Wood
