Cow
by Ben Virgin
On another American highway
This time, in Washington, between gas stations
Between opioid abuses
Among the rolling and empty hills
I saw a big brown bull cow
Standing in the misty distance.
This cow, larger
Than any I had ever seen
Graceful lonely.
O! Silent creature!
I wish we’d go no farther,
I’d like to look into your knowing black eyes.
As we approached and the fog cleared
I realized my cow was
No cow at all
Rather, a brown boulder
Tumbled down as from
Some high red peaks.
Closer still and
It too,
Only
A bush.
Brown because
It was dead.
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