A farmer poured cow dust
down the throat of a cow
and inside that cow
poured a further
cow still, as inside another
a meal of cows hid
in smaller cows
milled
into Chinese boxes
of bovine pills
reduced
in exactitude
and removed
from the granary
on the distant hill
we remember
as quiddity
inside memory’s
veil
as the mild cows
stilled
from their quivering
bells
are shrink-wrapped
& placed
on the grocer’s
shelf
While elsewhere
against a green, green hill
a calf
of white
with spots
of brown
(a construct,
linguistic
moment
in a language
laden tear)
lies down
in the dirt
to get up again
dear,
mere hunger’s
syllable
under cloud rills
collection
of shudders
against reduction
gearing
to feed
the grind
and turn the years