BARN CATS

Barn cats scatter in all directions

After silos and stalls are empty

And fields lie fallow.  Scrambled alarms

Crisscross the ground and air.  Loud and shrill

Through clouds of pollen that drift like smoke

As calicoes and tabbies approach with

Quiet, sure-footed stealth, ribs outlined in fur.

Food chains break into paper chains

Strung about, as epochs wind down

Cows don’t graze or break through fences;

Lowing sounds disappear among engines revved.

Barking dogs and hunters’ guns scour gridlocked land

For meat and sport.

There were distant horizons, deep skies and

Dark clouds heavy with wind and rain

To wash away earth’s grit and spring’s pollen,

To quake the thirst of grain and corn

Sowed just in time.  Harvested just in time.

There were the milkers’ calls rousing

Faded starlight like bird songs

Amplified by morning dew.

Pond ripples rode out the frogs’ plunges.

Rising suns and moons eclipsed the

Alarm clock’s ticking.

Stone foundations of cow barns and

Chicken houses are covered

In moss and dirt.  Relics and tools unearthed.

Parts of plows and tractor hitches,

Rusted, are kicked up by lawn mowers.

Cow bones rest in mounds among the trees.

Dams are breached. 

And the barn cats? 

Thin, hungry offspring wander in the streets. 

Horizons vanish in the sun’s glare and

Bold night lights blot out the stars.

Alarm clocks toll.

© cmheuer, 2017