Mike Jenkins
Even the black cow
Even the cow gets tired
of the crows on its back
crows on its back
picking flicking flapping
alive with grubs and fleas
so they scoot from the faraway trees
as though
the cow
had grown
wings and claws
wings and claws
Even the cow
no longer standing still
but following the pastures uphill
suddenly grows weary
-of the persistent jab
of ever-hungry birds
and whips its tail
jerks back its head
for peace
a rawness to the bone
set her in motion -
the moist moor grass
ripped and chewn
Even the cow
black as the crows
on its cloud of green -
must move on.
of the crows on its back
crows on its back
picking flicking flapping
alive with grubs and fleas
so they scoot from the faraway trees
as though
the cow
had grown
wings and claws
wings and claws
Even the cow
no longer standing still
but following the pastures uphill
suddenly grows weary
-of the persistent jab
of ever-hungry birds
and whips its tail
jerks back its head
for peace
a rawness to the bone
set her in motion -
the moist moor grass
ripped and chewn
Even the cow
black as the crows
on its cloud of green -
must move on.
Page(s) 20
magazine list
- Features
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- 10th Muse
- 14
- Acumen
- Agenda
- Ambit
- Angel Exhaust
- ARTEMISpoetry
- Atlas
- Blithe Spirit
- Borderlines
- Brando's hat
- Brittle Star
- Candelabrum
- Cannon's Mouth, The
- Chroma
- Coffee House, The
- Dream Catcher
- Equinox
- Erbacce
- Fabric
- Fire
- Floating Bear, The
- French Literary Review, The
- Frogmore Papers, The
- Global Tapestry
- Grosseteste Review
- Homeless Diamonds
- Interpreter's House, The
- Iota
- Journal, The
- Lamport Court
- London Magazine, The
- Magma
- Matchbox
- Matter
- Modern Poetry in Translation
- Monkey Kettle
- Moodswing
- Neon Highway
- New Welsh Review
- North, The
- Oasis
- Obsessed with pipework
- Orbis
- Oxford Poetry
- Painted, spoken
- Paper, The
- Pen Pusher Magazine
- Poetry Cornwall
- Poetry London
- Poetry London (1951)
- Poetry Nation
- Poetry Review, The
- Poetry Salzburg Review
- Poetry Scotland
- Poetry Wales
- Private Tutor
- Purple Patch
- Quarto
- Rain Dog
- Reach Poetry
- Review, The
- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
- Seventh Quarry, The
- Shearsman
- Smiths Knoll
- Smoke
- South
- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
- Tolling Elves
- Ugly Tree, The
- Weyfarers
- Wolf, The
- Yellow Crane, The