Farm Emergency

[indar]

Had to be done, they said,
better to lose the calf than the cow
after we put time, effort
and money into her.
Not much use for a bull-calf anyhow.

These things happen:
coming head first,
legs bent back, stuck tight.
Hooked it in the eye sockets;
pulled it out with the tractor.
That was best all the way round.

Still middle of the night
when they came in from the barn.
Mandy had the coffee ready.
She knew they'd rather talk it out
than go back to bed.

[Matty11]

Hi Linda,
            The poem made me think of the value put on life in the survival equation. So much is valued in terms of money. The reasons/excuses, the conscience pricking, the reasoning of practicality...humans will always have their context where animals are concerned, farmed or otherwise.

best

Phil

[Colm Roe]

Jeez Linda...this happens?
Glad I'm 'almost' vegetarian. Obviously this is a natural occurrence, and both would die if they lived wild.
You handle it well though, the horror of the (commercial) event is tempered by the humanity you show
in the last stanza.
A tough but excellent write.

[indar]

Thank you both Phil and Colm,

I drew on a very dim memory of a night time event in the 50s during my stay on a relative's farm in North Dakota. I think it's dim because I didn't want to know about it.

It's an example of the dilemma of being human. Carnivorous predators in the "animal world" can kill and eat prey and never spend a second wringing their paws or claws over what they've done.

But we've evolved to a point of feeling our carnivore appetites are a moral issue, But not to the point of knowing what to do about it. What if tomorrow every last person on earth committed to being vegan. Farming practices--bad enough as they are now would totally ravage this planet.

The farm crew in this poem is struggling with what they "had to do". I think that struggle can be generalized to the dilemma faced by the human race. Some people can buy their neatly packaged steak and never think about it again. Poets must stew and fret and write poetry about it.

BTW big dairy operations now have a cadre of nutritionists and veterinarians on call. Pregnant cows receive regular check ups. A calf that might breach in some way usually can be repositioned just before birth. The things I've learned in the butter booth.

[Colm Roe]

But we've evolved to a point of feeling our carnivore appetites are a moral issue, But not to the point of knowing what to do about it. What if tomorrow every last person on earth committed to being vegan. Farming practices--bad enough as they are now would totally ravage this planet.

The argument here is valid; if we all committed tomorrow. But an evolving change in our diet would not ravage the planet.
Cattle and sheep can graze on land that's not suitable for cultivating crops, and a vegan diet depends on cultivated cropland; that's the problem. Improving yields from existing lands could fix that.
Water could well be the deciding factor in the future. So if you like your beef (and chocolate) a change might be coming

[indar]

The point of my poem is supposed to be the existential dilemma humans face because of our intellectual capabilities. The comments re this poem have morphed into proof of that point  

[Tracy Mitchell]

Excellent poeming, Indar.  Sorry it took me forever to get to this one.  I did read it several times since it has been posted and it has taken me a while to collect my thoughts.

Based on the experience and wisdom of the farmers in this poem, they had no option other than to do what they did.  Their humanity shows in the emotions they then needed to deal with.  This poem recognizes the strength it takes to do what a person understands is the right thing to do when the act is repugnant.  We are mad that there is no alternative.  the strength is in not pretending.  I did not take this as a meat/no meat kind of thing.  

The poem recalls for me William Stafford's take on the same subject -- Travelling Through the Dark -- see https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/ ... h-the-dark

This is difficult stuff and you present the poignancy brilliantly in this brief tale.

Cheers to you.

T 

[Mark]

Linda. A difficult thing to build a poem around but this is well-presented with multiple levels of interpretation. The ending resonates with the human condition. 

[TrevorConway]

Hi Linda,

Nice one. You captured the experience well, I imagine, though it felt a bit like an overview. Getting into nitty gtritty visuals would make it come alive even more and transform this good poem into a potentially great one.

Thanks for sharing,

Trev

[AlienFlower]

Hi Linda

I love this poem. I found it interesting to compare it to William Stafford's. Stafford's, in the 1st person, consists of one person's thoughts, a personal experience with a shocking climax when he becomes aware of the live fetus.

Yours on the other hand begins with a community's voice, a recitation of 5-6 metaphors/sayings they all grew up hearing from their elders whenever this emergency arose. Perhaps they are recollecting those elders for emotional strength, or perhaps this ritual re-confirms there is a consensus while hoping against hope that someone might come up with an alternative solution. 

To me, the most powerful line is "Mandy had the coffee ready." I might have stopped the poem there. They've done it before and they'll do it again and they can only deal with the pain together.

Jackie