poem
In Bali cows are sacred
and so tied to posts outside hawker stalls and 7-11s,
even lining a university's grove
useful to keep weeds down,
our guide explained they earn keep
until sold to Aussies for sirloins and steaks
"because it's against our religion to eat beef,"
he boasted the inconsistency
that flashed memory of my father
his face scrunched, shoulders slumped
crying one of the three times I ever saw.
A black baldie he raised from a bottle
had a brain tumor, so he put her down himself,
dug her grave by the barn
though he'd only meant to sell her
to a slaughterhouse anyway.
I had assumed it felt like a burnt cake,
effort falling short of fruition,
but maybe he was more like the Balinese...
I can't figure out how to end this poem!
"out to make a little cash,
consequences acceptable
when the blood spills elsewhere."
That is just not poetic enough!
and so tied to posts outside hawker stalls and 7-11s,
even lining a university's grove
useful to keep weeds down,
our guide explained they earn keep
until sold to Aussies for sirloins and steaks
"because it's against our religion to eat beef,"
he boasted the inconsistency
that flashed memory of my father
his face scrunched, shoulders slumped
crying one of the three times I ever saw.
A black baldie he raised from a bottle
had a brain tumor, so he put her down himself,
dug her grave by the barn
though he'd only meant to sell her
to a slaughterhouse anyway.
I had assumed it felt like a burnt cake,
effort falling short of fruition,
but maybe he was more like the Balinese...
I can't figure out how to end this poem!
"out to make a little cash,
consequences acceptable
when the blood spills elsewhere."
That is just not poetic enough!