by Ethel Mortenson Davis
1
His art is of cows, goats, and pigs,
but mainly dairy cows, Holsteins,
great portraits of black and white Holsteins
posing with dignity and grace,
one with a large, bulging vein
running the length of the under belly
to its udder,
portraits rich in painterly quality,
showing a wondrous love for these animals.
2
A downed cow,
too sick to get on its feet,
is dragged with chains
to the slaughtering yard.
A man kicks her in the head
on her way past him,
dignity and grace
still in her eyes.
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