Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


GEO-BESTIARY: 5 by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE LITTLE BULL CALF GETS HIS SOFT PINK
Last Line: THOUGH IT'S FATALLY ILLEGAL TO TAKE THEM OFF.
Subject(s): BULLS;

The little bull calf gets his soft pink
nuts clipped off, then is released
in a state of bafflement, wandering
this way and that, perhaps feeling
a tad lighter, an actual lacuna.
But like the rest of the culture these creatures
are quick healers, have been dumbed down
so far from their wild state they think we're harmless.
In the old days sometimes longhorns,
like the Lakota had, had the sense to attack
Cavalry contingents, goring what could be gored.
Even now a few, not quite bred or beaten
into senescence, struggle wildly with these invisible
telemetric collars wrapped tightly around our necks
though it's fatally illegal to take them off.



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