Birth Of A Calf Poem by Sheena Blackhall

His mother stood in her stall
Sides shuddering under the cobwebbed beams
She was straining and stretching
Bellowing in the throes of labour pains

Then he slid out in his jelly shawl
A caul of colours. He landed with a leggy plop
Into the nest of straw that was his birth bed

My aunt rewarded his mother with hot mash
And a tot of whisky, after all her trouble
Then briskly brushed the knob-kneed newcomer down

He was all legs and wobbles, all stumble and shake
As his wet young mouth clamped on the dripping teat
Draining life from the elixir of colostrum

Violets widened their yawn
Flowers were an insect lure of petals and scents
When the black bull calf was born

All the hens outside were clucking and broody
The dog barking, the washing flapping wildly