Out of Their Element
The usual into the car,
out the electronic door
kind of day,
until the flashing lights
of a Boulder city fire truck
warned people to pull over.
Was it an accident,
a heart attack victim?
No, it was a humble Hereford steer
at the corner of Pearl and Ninth,
making a futile attempt
to blend with the herds of people
who stopped to point
and stare in wonderment.
Head lowered in imitation
of the woman ahead of him,
he followed in her footsteps
through the flashing walk signal,
while she remained
sublimely unaware of a
thousand pounds of beef behind her,
trying so valiantly
to find his way home,
and knowing instinctively
that he never would.
But the steer moved on,
up the hill,
a trail of drool streaming from his lips,
while firemen
stood helplessly by
not knowing what to do
with a low-tech animal
in a high-tech world
where even a mouse
is electronic.
For those of you who don't know about it, Linda and Roger Allbritten belong to that rare breed who really do put their money where their mouth is. For a considerable (and costly) amount of time, they hosted a poetry site on the worldwide web called Showemall. Those of us who remember what they did for poetry (and for us) wish to tender our thanks and continued best wishes to these wonderful people. If you were one of those lucky enough to find Showemall before they were forced to close it down due to financial restraints, please sign Linda's guestbook and let her know that you appreciated all she and Roger did for poetry and for all of us.
