working with kids

i started to cry saying / goodbye to the goats today / they were being taken back to their home / on a different farm, and would likely meet / dire ends (the boy) or years / of laborious birthing and milking (the girls) / leo was there and we ended up talking / for an hour and a half or so. i sat / in the goatyard while they stood on the other side / of the fence. the little girl (io) / with the bald spot lay herself beside me / first her elbows then her chin / upon my leg. the little boy (mars)  rested / his sweet brown body against the gate / we all stayed like that for a while / i think we all felt safe with each other.

mars, 08-08-24

originally written for the wheeling cacophony orchestra, vol. 2 (summer/back-to-school)