Sunday June 14th, 2015

The exercise:

Write about: the cow.

Had a fairly quiet day off, spent mostly on the farm. We had a little BBQ at the beach with Kat's brother this evening that we'd hoped would be a little more well attended, but Rebecca was feeling tired and needed to get some school work done and another family we'd invited weren't able to make it either.

It was still nice though.

Feeling mostly ready to get back to the garden tomorrow. Hopefully a decent night's sleep will get me the rest of the way there.

Mine:

She's at peace with the world,
Or so it seems.
We see the outside but
What's in her dreams?

As she chomps and she chews,
What does she think?
Does she daydream or is
She on the brink?

Of a nervous breakdown,
A killing spree?
Whatever it may be...
I'll be ready.

*rests a loaded shotgun against his shoulder*

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry for my lack of comments/posts recently. Lots of work to do.

Marc, your poem is really interesting. It almost sounds like you're describing a woman, not a cow. And the end was the icing on the cake, both the last stanza and the closing comment.

The Cow:

Of course there would a physical barrier blocking my path. How else would the universe, Fate, and all that was good in the world tell me to just abandon my mission and accept my lot in life?
Harvey Lane became narrow just after the first hill of the countryside, blocked on either side by large trees that would prevent even my small Volkswagen from bypassing the large black cow standing directly in the center of the road. I was already half an hour late to the ceremony and only another three miles from the small 18th century church located on the cost. I could almost make out the top of the steeple over the trees.
“Can you chew your shit elsewhere?” I shouted outside my window. “Some of us have a wedding to crash.”
The cow merely turned its large head toward me, the large brown eyes seemed to stare straight through me as if I didn’t matter. Even the cow knew my degree of insignificance. It then returned to staring off into space somewhere on the other side of the road.
It didn’t even dignify my disturbance with a “moo.”

Greg said...

@Ivy: great writing today! It's vibrant and interesting; it moves along with excellent pace and the narrator's voice sets a perfect tone. It almost feels like it's written from real life (though you've not struck me as a wedding-crasher from your comments yet!); it's almost like the start to a Jane Austen novel (though, obviously, better written and less annoying).

@Marc: the barbecue sounds like fun, though it's clearly a shame that not everyone could make it. Hopefully the rest of you just ate more to compensate :)
I'm not entirely sure what to make of your Taurophobia, rampant as it it is in your poem. It's almost as bad as your cold-hearted rejection of Mr. Wriggles :-P Still, I'm sure you and your shotgun are comfortable where you are!

The cow
Madame de Boinville had decided that it was time her children turned vegetarian. Meat was proving expensive, and she'd rather spend the money on drugs, drink or dancing, and she'd noticed a large quantity of green things growing outside the window and assumed they must be vegetables.
"Who wants mashed cow for tea?" she enquired, her voice quavering delicately like a hummingbird hovering in the air. "Or perhaps you'd prefer some freshly murdered lamb? That's a baby sheep, you know."
"Cow, please" said Damian. Elspeth and Ermintrude both picked murdered lamb.
"Horrible children!" said Madame, flouncing out of the room.
"Why is she calling beefburger 'mashed cow', do you think?" Damian hadn't looked up from his Xbox, but his voice carried a tone of boredom. "Do you think she's lost her thesaurus?"
Elspeth giggled, and then the door flew open again.
"You'll have to come and carve a chunk off the cow yourself," said Madame, flourishing a knife.
"Sure," said Damian, pausing his game. "They taught us this in scouts."

Marc said...

Ivy - whatever the reason for the absence, always glad to see you back again. I hope all that work went well!

Hah, reading mine again after seeing your comment I can totally see what you mean.

Quite enjoyed your tale. Definitely something I wouldn't mind seeing continued, as you've created quite the scene!

Greg - hah! Not written from my point of view - I can assure you, I have nothing against cows. Not that I've spent much time around them, mind...

That opening paragraph is a wonderful scene setter... and I quite appreciate how the children manage to steal said scene. Love the ending too :)