Poem of The Week | The Particular Bearing of Cows’ Tails – Chris Connolly
The Particular Bearing of Cows’ Tails
(Pour Pierre et Nic)
by Chris Connolly
The rain (I am sorry to bring it up)
falls like shivers down spines
kamikaze attackers against rattling glass.
It will be the opening topic of conversation
everywhere
as always ––
an ever-strengthened relic
of agricultural concerns
from last-century days
when weather was mysterious
and most were farmers
and farmers relied on things like
the particular bearing of cows’ tails
for forecasts of
rain
or storm or drought.
The ritual persists though
even with weather channels and
the internet
as if we didn’t know
in advance;
the weather, rain or shine,
comes first
always
like bread at a restaurant
or a handshake
or hug
or the tiny little nod
to a person you pass
who
you can’t be quite sure–– but you think you might know.
Submissions are open for all HeadStuff poetry categories, including Poem of The Week (Every Friday), Unbound (longer sequence of poems from a single poet), and New Voices (submissions from poets under the age of 30.) We accept both written, audio and video recorded poems as long as the quality of the audio and video is of a high standard.
Please see our Submissions page for more information.
Photo by Adam Sherez on Unsplash