Come, come look at the cows, he says,
just cross this little brook, don’t worry it is not
too cold, and never mind this blue rope here, I
will untie it in no time.
I wrap it ‘round the bushes so the cows
think it’s electric and don’t get away
I tend to about 20 now,
I take them out to pasture though
they are not mine, they’re from the village over
yonder
just watch them idling in the shade
calm cows just calmly ruminating
Bruni won’t hurt you either, he’s a good dog,
maybe a little eager,
what, you still find the water cold?
Nah, look at me, I’d stand in it for hours if it weren’t
for this gnarled foot. I broke it and it’s grown back wrong
the hardest part is taking the cows back
into the village at dusk
I have to take the road and the drivers are mean
they curse me and they honk their horns…
I’m not
some vagrant idiot, you know, I am from here and I own a house,
I used to own a bigger one but lost it to the loan sharks
because I helped my sister…
So now, I tend to cows. They do not pay me much but sometimes
people bring me beer, yes,
they are big cows indeed, no, I don’t milk them, someone else does,
the cows they love me and I love them back, once
one of them wanted to cuddle and nearly
stabbed me to death with her horns
it’s that one over there, I call her
Mr. Engineer because she likes to ponder things.
Why, if she hears us talking, she’s likely to stop grazing altogether!
She’ll listen so intently, she’ll forget to eat.
From dawn till dusk she’ll listen to the sound of human voice,
here, do you want me to bring her? No? Fine, I will let her be.
I’m glad you stopped. We talked and it is not too hot
and sometimes
life is kind like this.
Writer Between Worlds 