Birth Of A Calf

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