Clouds rise from the barn roof
piebald with shadows and frost
yet to melt;
in stall eight the cream heifer,
all night grotesquely swollen
and vigilant, suckles her first
newborn, a cream Jersey also;
its unsteady legs tense
as it thrusts its muzzle
into the rich red udder.

In the uneven kerosene light
it could be anytime: antediluvian,
medieval, reconstruction-
ancient, meager, modern-
livestock and man and kingdoms
broken below the kingdom of God.