Dead Cows Standing

once they grazed
in verdant fields
a placid herd
a wholesome scene

but now confined
in crowded pens
munching grain
from metal troughs

and there they stay
in rain or snow
in fecal muck
and acrid fumes

til rescued by
a packing plant
so we can feast
on marbled steak

River Bones

along the stream
upon the rocks
the bones appeared
a form intact

a case of ribs
a ragged spine
the legs attached
their hooves in place

a deer of course
had met its fate
perhaps from age
or coyote killed

the meat devoured
the skull detached
the carcass now
a chain of bones

and there it lay
beneath the sky
for mice and shrews
to gnaw what's left

denied a box
in gated lawns
its bones to feed
the river life