the calico heifer

The Calico Heifer

 

On our range of cows of regular brown,

the calico was something we could show.

Some freak of nature, her descended coat,

a wild array of paints that babied strokes,

into the mildest mix up of a girl.

And she was more a woman, than a cow,

even with the one odd eye that turned,

the strangest colors, while the other sunned

in mildest manner in a homely brown.

The men all said her one eye turned toward town,

as though she meant to meet a gentleman,

a bull like exhibition of herself.

They said it was the way things had to go,

that she would spend her life seeking some soul,

that had the same desires and bold display,

of crazy mix up in their color scheme.

They said that she would want for many things.

One of them, the plain good will of folks,

that disliked her display, her foolish fur,

her silly way of looking here and there,

as if she could see both the mildest brown,

and yet, still see the colors of the town.

They wished for simply bright or simply brown,

not this odd hidden mockery of choice.

She was too indecisive for the crowd.

Reviews

[Mischa Keats]

I love it! All I can really say about this. Takes me back to working on my farm growing up.

[James Paulin]

I think you have mastered the art of application to the words carefully choosen for your poems. Reading your work is a pleasure and an inspiration to take the extra effort in selection of adjectives, verbs and nouns. You avoid well worn usage and have a flair for the artistic. I love that.

[holly]

What a surprise to me that I'd find myself relating to a cow! Yet, for some of us only partially tamed females, your portrait of her makes that inevitable. "They said that she would want for many things. One of them, the plain good will of folks that disliked her display.." Oh, how that resonates with this foolish, indecisive human "cow". Delightful, thought-provoking. Thanks!

[Alicante lullaby]

beautiful..phibby...
she was too indecisive for the crowd

[Ed Hart]

well, I don't want to harp on the subject, but: FROST...It's a kind of mastery of simplicity...a kind of seeing...a kind of excellence...

[Brown Bull]

If its all the same to you, down here in my meadow I prefer Heifers that are plain brown!

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

It is a shame when people can't except someone different... it really means they are not comfortable with who they are so have to make the different one feel inadequate... you told a great lesson with a fun flair.