Hailstones by Bel Schenk

Hailstones

Why not slow down and pull up
next to this black, sideways cow.
Could this be a silhouette?
Or simply, a figure
shy of the fence
south of the wooden barn.
Gravel pounds the side of the car.
The hand-break on, window down.
Her lashes, the cow’s blasé gaze.
We’ve been driving five hours
and the voice on the radio
says the hail in the city
is headed our way.
Reliably, the cow dressed for it
and here we sit, as usual unprepared.
Everyone knows not to swim
directly against the flow.
A downstream current
floods the freeway back.
Oh, cow! May the hailstones bounce
and you find your way home
from the damp,
yet mistless roadside.

Bel’s latest collection, Every Time You Close Your Eyes, was published in 2014 by Wakefield Press and is available here.

Learn more about Bel on our Contributors’ Page.

Looking for more writing about agriculture? Check out The Largest List of Farm Books.

(Photo: Thomas Hawk/ flickr.com/ CC BY-ND 2.0)

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Bel Schenk

Bel Schenk is the author of three poetry collections - Urban Squeeze (Ginninderra Press, 2003), Ambulances & Dreamers (Wakefield Press, 2008) and Every Time You Close Your Eyes (Wakefield Press, 2014). She has been published in various journals and magazines both in Australia and overseas. Originally from Adelaide, she now lives in Melbourne with her partner Rachel and daughter Lola.

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