Simon Mugridge, Barbed Wire (Artist Flickr)
Digital photograph
There was music in the scene, four cows lying
together and apart, two black by a fence,
and brown with black in the middle of a field,
Belted Galloways with signature bands of white
around their midriffs. The harmony of the two
at the fence was as sharp as could be, but yesterday,
for the first time among these cows, black taking
a liking to brown was no longer offkey. It does
not matter that cows are mostly colorblind, nor
whether their mutual attraction finally overcame
their original desire to remain aloof—the time
had come for them to recognize they were happier
together. And so it seemed—until today, when
once again it fell flat. They chose to lie apart.