Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Aung Khin Myint

A cow story

[The beginning]
 
The cow swallowed
a broken condom she didn’t know was in the grass.
She got pregnant.
She gave birth to the three butchers.
 
[The first butcher]
 
Each time he slaughters a cow
on his vest pops up a blood stain,
the shape of his country’s map.
 
[The second butcher]
 
Each time he sees the first butcher in the blood-stained vest,
an irrepressible desire to smooch his brother seizes him.
 
[The third butcher]
 
He is always found caressing
a cow’s head on his chest.    
 
 
[The abattoir]
 
The radio hanging on the wall plays;
‘‘Monsoon Gust’’ by Arr T.
 
 
[The cow’s last words]
 
Blood shall speak.
A blood drop equals a word.
A blood stream, a sentence.
Don’t be idiots!
 
 
[The end]
 
Has it occurred to you that a single swipe of
the butcher’s knife is not enough to decapitate a cow?

A cow Story

A cow Story

Close

A cow story

[The beginning]
 
The cow swallowed
a broken condom she didn’t know was in the grass.
She got pregnant.
She gave birth to the three butchers.
 
[The first butcher]
 
Each time he slaughters a cow
on his vest pops up a blood stain,
the shape of his country’s map.
 
[The second butcher]
 
Each time he sees the first butcher in the blood-stained vest,
an irrepressible desire to smooch his brother seizes him.
 
[The third butcher]
 
He is always found caressing
a cow’s head on his chest.    
 
 
[The abattoir]
 
The radio hanging on the wall plays;
‘‘Monsoon Gust’’ by Arr T.
 
 
[The cow’s last words]
 
Blood shall speak.
A blood drop equals a word.
A blood stream, a sentence.
Don’t be idiots!
 
 
[The end]
 
Has it occurred to you that a single swipe of
the butcher’s knife is not enough to decapitate a cow?

A cow story

[The beginning]
 
The cow swallowed
a broken condom she didn’t know was in the grass.
She got pregnant.
She gave birth to the three butchers.
 
[The first butcher]
 
Each time he slaughters a cow
on his vest pops up a blood stain,
the shape of his country’s map.
 
[The second butcher]
 
Each time he sees the first butcher in the blood-stained vest,
an irrepressible desire to smooch his brother seizes him.
 
[The third butcher]
 
He is always found caressing
a cow’s head on his chest.    
 
 
[The abattoir]
 
The radio hanging on the wall plays;
‘‘Monsoon Gust’’ by Arr T.
 
 
[The cow’s last words]
 
Blood shall speak.
A blood drop equals a word.
A blood stream, a sentence.
Don’t be idiots!
 
 
[The end]
 
Has it occurred to you that a single swipe of
the butcher’s knife is not enough to decapitate a cow?
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
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