Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHEN THE COWS COME HOME, by RAY CLARKE ROSE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHEN THE COWS COME HOME, by                    
First Line: Clink, clink, clink-clink, a-clinkety-clink'
Last Line: And the dusk is here and my eyes are wet.
Subject(s): Cows; Nature


"Clink, clink, clink-clink, a-clinkety-clink"—
Through the ragged brush of the pasture path,
And the "old boss" stops at the brook to drink,
And tosses her head with a jest of wrath.
With hoofs sunk deep in the brook's black loam,
And muzzle deep in the lazy stream,
She waits for the laggard herd to come,
With ears that droop and eyes that dream.
Her sleek sides bulge with contentedness,
And her udders drip with an overflow
That blotches with white the water cress
That sags with the current, to and fro.

The eddies whirl where her long tail flings
Its tufted end with a listless toss,
And the gurgling water swings and sings
Like whirling wings in the brookside moss.
As the water clears of its muddy rile
And the old boss drinks, with nostrils flared,
The dusk, slow stealing, mile on mile,
Grows dark where the deep woods stand ensnared
On the east horizon's farthest rim,
And out of the twilight's hazy height,
Where the Dog Star loiters, white and dim,
A drifting swallow pipes good-night.

Then, drowsily, with a soul-deep breath,
The old boss raises her head and sighs,
And bright as a sword from its guarding sheath,
The sunset gleams in her glowing eyes.
It turns the bell at her throat to gold
And silvers the red of her silken coat,
And the telltale leaves of the year grown old
Turn pale in the pools where they lie afloat.
Out of the silence, shrill and high,
A voice of the farm-yard quavers through:
"Come, boss! Come, boss! Come, boss!" its cry,
And the old boss softly answers, "Moo!"

Only the call of the cow—that's all;
Only a wistful moo, and yet
It seems that I heard my childhood call—
And the dusk is here and my eyes are wet.





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