what you say to me
the muscles on your flanks
ripple like quicksilver
the play of your mouth is a die
thrown six times
it flips into the endless sky
a mirror of your soul
you say you want discipline
you want to play
between the lines
of the strictest form
instead you dance in circles
an ancient acolyte
a mystery of Eleusinian proportion
if you tell you die
half way through / you
change your mind
walk straight ahead / follow an invisible line of sight
in front of you
nothingness
behind
the land unfolds into existence
at each step
when your hoof touches the ground
it grows reaches out
and away from your red painted hooves
ringing with the sound
of your ankle bells
you are that old gesture
the one only initiates know
you are a mandala
a body in endless circling motion
This poem is from my poetry collection Cow (2011) which was written while I was on a four-month residency in Chennai in 2009. This poem brings together mythic elements from India (the cow motif), Greece (the Eleusinian mysteries), Indigenous Australia (the land created as she walks). Of all the poetry books I have written, this was the most fun. In part, because the cow character, Queenie, grew and grew: she encompassed Milky Way as well as the subatomic zone; she laughed and made jokes; she fell in love over and over. She also showed herself a capable philosopher and linguist. I also discovered that many northern hemisphere traditions include cows, from Islam to the Celtic world; from India to Greece and many places between.
One of the challenges of India is seeing cows with enormous horns. When I was nine I was bunted by the house cow. It took me quite a few years to enter a paddock with cows. The picture above is clearly a cow. I am reminded too, that wild sheep have large horns, so when reading myths which include horned animals you simply cannot assume they are male. The other great thing about cows, is that the feminine form – cow – is the default. Listen to people speak, unless they are farmers who refer to the animals as cattle, most speakers of English use the word cow as a general referent. The bull is restricted to referencing a male animal. Children learn the word cow long ahead of bull.
You can find my book here: http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/Bookstore/book/id=215/
© Susan Hawthorne, 2020
(Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Hawthorne.
RE SUSAN HAWTHORNE – AMAZING POEM – I READ IT OVER AND OVER! WHAT A POET YOU ARE!