Singing to the Cattle  

by Melanie Choukas-Bradley
           

The punchers on night guard
Rode around the cattle in a reverse
Direction, calling and singing to them
If the beasts grew restless

TR described this custom
In his autobiography
After playing cowboy in Dakota
Some form of sweetness in domination
 
With the ultimate aim of leading
The beasts to their death
This haunts me as a woman
How can I trust the songs of country and love

Are you singing me into submission and branding,
Corralling me softly?
Speak softly and carry a big stick
And perhaps more unsettling, sing


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Melanie Choukas-Bradley is a naturalist and award-winning author of seven nature books, including City of Trees and A Year in Rock Creek Park. Her book, Wild Walking—A Guide to Forest Bathing Through the Seasons will be released in June. Melanie began writing poetry during the pandemic and had the good fortune to discover Beate Sigriddaughter’s Writing in a Woman’s Voice. The site has featured many of her poems, including “How to Silence a Woman,” “If I have loved you,” “The Water Cooler,” and “Muddled Grief,” which won Moon Prizes. Her poetry has also appeared in New Verse News.