City Farm
It lies amidst urban dereliction,
a large battery barn humming
in a field of carpet discard squares.
Inside, sixty plus animal rides
salvaged from service
outside shops and supermarkets,
their flexes plugged in
and pence per ride over ridden
to produce a herd of rocking,
prancing, jerking creatures,
a sea of bilious motion
in a smell of arm oil
sugared with individual jingles.
At first you see mainly horses
with chipped asinine grins,
legs splayed in a pre-Muybridge gallop,
then one or two cows with manic smiles
surging up and down over faded moons
near a pair of saddled up pigs
prancing on cracked blue trotters,
and sometimes there’s a toddler
who bends down and tears
an imaginary handful
from the litter strewn concrete
and offers it up on his unfurled palm.
Page(s) 18
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