Under a porridge heaven (scourged with black,
and prickly-pale as sackcloth) drear and dun,
the road lays down its cobbles, mirrored slick
with recent rain and half a sickened sun.
A passer-by or two. Not noticing
the shambling creatures going to their deaths.
A troop of oxen, slipping on the slime,
heading for the abbatoir. Their breaths
resigned and patient; runny eyes that see
the emerald grass, the clear, bright streams, the fields,
the apple-blossomed ease of Normandy.
Silver-drooling snouts. Sometimes a snort
or sniff. But nothing more. Remembering
the sea. A passing smell. A passing thought.
*****
John Gallas writes: “I love ‘Oxen’, a little gem you find sometimes when translating from periodical/magazine contributions that mostly sank without trace over time. I’d be delighted. It’s from ‘La Parnasse contemporain’ (only ever 3 editions – 1866, 71 and 76).”
Armand d’Artois (1788 – 1867) was a French playwright and librettist. Here is the original:
LES BŒUFS
Sous un ciel bas, d’un blanc triste, teinté de noir,
Qui prend l’aspect blafard et morne d’un cilice,
La rue étend au loin son pavé rond et lisse
Que l’averse a rendu luisant comme un miroir.
Quelques passants s’en vont, flanant sur le trottoir,
Sans voir ces condamnés qui marchent au supplice :
Des troupeaux de bœufs, dont le pied trébuche et glisse
Sur le chemin qui mène au sanglant abattoir.
Et dans les yeux rêveurs de ces bêtes superbes
Sont encor peints les clairs ruisseaux, les hautes herbes
Et les pommiers en fleur du gras pays normand.
La bave en fils d’argent tombe de leurs narines,
Et parfois l’un d’entre eux renifle longuement,
Comme au ressouvenir d’âcres senteurs marines.
John Gallas, Aotearoa/NZ poet, published mostly by Carcanet. Saxonship Poet (see www.saxonship.org), Fellow of the English Association, St Magnus Festival Orkney Poet, librettist, translator and biker. 2025 Midlands Writing Prize winner. Presently living in Markfield, Leicestershire. Website is www.johngallaspoetry.co.uk which has a featured Poem of the Month, complete book list, links and news.
“Herd of Cattle on Red Dirt Road, Vietnam” by AdamCohn is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
