On The Train There Were Cows
On the train there were cows
and there were sleepers
who were frightened of the cows.
‘The Blitzkrieg is over’ yelled the Mater
leaning out the window on her massive arms
dripping dish suds watching trains roar.
Racing hell bent through Europe
we - are the diaspora.
It was Purim
when the pageant
formed a long kicking chorus
down the aisles of the train
arms linked, cows and croupiers,
a Persian king, his bride
in a white dress
Esther.
The train roared through tunnels
and the tracks became a circle
made a spiral with their voices
voices rising through the jagged air
cows mooing to the rhythm of a prayer chant.
There was a Mr. Kafka
who frequented the Yiddish theatre.
In Yiddish
behamah means both cow and stupid.
‘You stoopid cow
said Logan to his wife
coming out of the Haverstock Arms
drunk.
Yenta wore men’s clothes
denying the link of cow to woman
virgin to vagina where the sword pierces.
He who knows your real name
has the power to curse you.
Zviyah, the behamah, stock character
of the Yiddish theatre, had big tits,
was affectionately referred to as pasgootsvah
in the village of Antekolnah.
Maybe she would like to have worn
a white dress - like Esther.
In the long sleep of summer
cows plaited daisy chains
like a chorus of college girls.
And God waited for the bombs
to drop like cold rain
over the cities’ Sabbath
and the rumble of trains
over year and season.
She was seated on the floor
when she heard the plainsong come
Paul, Saul of Tarsus
knocking at her door
his leaden boots like thunder.
‘Yuh stoopid cow’ ‘Dinner getting cold’
he yelled flexing his tattoos.
Layers peel like lampshades
Tongue hisses over carpet
where fall the upturned cards.
Zviyah the behamah
plaited her hair with cow dung.
Mother would never call a child Zviyah
even after the death of her brother
Zvi - Henry.
On the train there were cows
and there were sleepers
who were frightened of the cows.
Page(s) 168-169
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