the great wild cow bound me to both of them
—at first I was all thick hair—barley
dragged through mud—I ran with gazelles ate
grass drank rivers—I wasn’t there when
he crushed what could have eased his final
journey—stupid I know but I would
have shared what strength I could gather if
—but I was gone by then—and when that
shining lady tried to claim my friend
—I tore off part of her great bull—flung
it at her crown—missed—the streets slipped with
gore—we’d won the fight—but then sickness—
his face rained by my side for days until
a worm dropped from my nose to the dust
Tag: lady
-
I was a bad king. I wrote some bad
apologies. Too many games, not
enough work. My people drained wasted
but it began to shift when, from the
vast grassland she led him, or was it
that winter I spent as an ass because
of the mishap with the lady
from Salem—blessed be her name
Maybe change of form is not enough
It’s hard to say right now what the project
is and what is not the project
but I hope that at some time in some time
I will have been sufficient monarch of
this wildflower-resplendent surplus
other animals 