46. A Newly-born Calf

A newly-born calf

is like oven-baked bread

steaming under a cellophane cover.

The cow cuts

this shiny coat,

as a child would

lick a toffee,

with a tongue as pink as

the sole of a foot.

The calf sways on legs

filled with jelly and custard

instead of bone and marrow;

and it totters to suck the teats

of its mother's udder.

                      Oswald Mtshali