It's all about cows.

A recent article reminded me of a favorite poem written by my friend, Liz. It's sneaky good and smart and friggin' hilarious. I love the second stanza and, well, just the whole idea of a secret deception by cows, of all beasts. Genius.

Forget what you have heard
of all that's good and evil.
Forget what you learned
in King James...

It's all about cows.
Pretending to be innocuous
casually insisting by the nature
of their inertia that they are content
to chew cud and stare.

Facing in the same direction,
cows have their own Mecca....
stimulate their secret powers
at night--
with a collective concentration
so intense in its destruction
a cow itself will fall to the ground
with the force of one finger.

Cows are the source of depravity,
take over the minds of our children,
cows kill.
Some wear human suits,
pose as civil servants, smile
with their plastic lips closed.

And clandestine buildings
have been searched
to find the severed bodies,
isolated organs, hides...
of traitor cows, informant cows.

And central to their plan
for the final human massacre,
cows do plot to deplete the ozone.

[It's true. And she was wise to this years ago. Thanks for letting me post this, Liz!]