The rain was heavy. The road was slurred
with cow muck and clay. I slowed
then stopped the car as a straggle of cows
swayed round the bend in the lane.
Large, wild eyes caught me – dry, warm
and listening to a string quintet –
on County Council business.
One of the beasts, sashaying to a
milky music, nudged a wing mirror askew.
Dense hedgerow became sky of enduring grey.
The elderly cowman plodded at the rear. He too
eyed the public servant lounging to an adagio.
I acknowledged his enigmatic gesture
and adjusted the mirror.
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