Harrison Watson: A day on the field in danger season

A day on the field in danger season

Editor's Note: ​The Union of Concerned Scientists refers to the period between May and October, when temperatures regularly rise above 100°F, as the Danger Season; these conditions overlap with the agricultural industry's peak harvest period. Exposure to pesticides further endangers farmworkers, as well as migratory songbirds travelling to breeding sites. Harrison's poem was inspired by research conducted as an inaugural conservation and justice fellow at the American Bird Conservancy.

June— 
In Central Valley, CA, a migrant farmworker
rises before the sun.
They put on
undergarments,
a flannel shirt,
pants,
socks,
boots,
a bandana,
a hat,
sunglasses,
gloves,
goggles, and,
finally,
coveralls— 
wrapped tight.
They're in the field by 4 a.m.
The field's dark,
Save for a distant wildfire's flame that flickers.
As the sun rises and the hours go by,
The thermometer ticks higher.
From dark to dawn and dawn to dusk,
the worker is helping haul tons of crops to trucks.

​Idling truck engines drown out the songbirds that twitter.

​Wee, wee, wee,

the young signal back to the nest.
Out this way, there is no food left.
The morning crickets haven’t buzzed
for weeks.

Weet, weet, weet— 

​Among the morning rush, a few adults found a patch of seeds.
They peck pensively;
Yesterday's patch was not appetizing.
But they do not have much time.

Picking crops, each second is precious–
no water, no bathroom breaks, no standing in the sparse shade;
all to make minimum wage.
Marching up and down rows of
swollen apples,
engorged tomatoes,
crisp greens, and
supple strawberries,
the farm worker bakes:
the heat they generate has nowhere to dissipate.
By daybreak, they contemplate shedding those coveralls
that are supposed to keep them safe.
At mid-morning, the field shimmers:
the crops are coated with ash and sweat and recently applied organophosphate insecticides.

Tee-tee-tee— 

​a songbird mother is building a nest with the morning's debris.
It's almost time to lay her eggs.
One of the males brings back seeds.
Together they enjoy a feast while they wait for the hatchlings.
Across the way, another couple has waited on the eggs to break for weeks. They've all been left behind
by the greater flock.

​Come noon, the worker's coveralls hang heavy;
They move like their boots are cinder blocks.

Ring, ring, ring— 

​they're saved by a call for their weekly training.
Men and women well-meaning,
talk at the workers for a while on the dangers of the
treatedfieldsPPEheatandpesticidelabeling.
The worker's head is throbbing,
stomach turning,
vision blurring.
Almost nothing sticks.
At the end of the day,
they trudge back to crowded labor camps
with pesticide residue that lingers on their fingers.
In their bed they lie safe,
but the residue they carry exposes others to the risk of pesticide-related illnesses.

​This is Danger Season.

Harrison Watson is a Ph.D. student in Ecology at Princeton University. He is also a Public Voices Fellow of the Op-Ed Project and Yale Program for Climate Change Communication, and a Conservation and Justice Fellow with the American Bird Conservancy.