Out the Gate

 

May-Belle, Marlene, Miss Moo and Flo

were dairy cows of Farmer Joe.

They all agreed that he was great,

‘cos Joe forgot to shut the gate.

 

They knew that cows should really stay

inside the field just eating hay.

But down the lane they liked to stroll,

the rubbish tip their only goal.

 

The things that people threw away

were great for cows on ‘dress-up’ day.

Marlene found dance shoes for her hooves

and danced some really groovy moves.

 

May-Belle decided she’d wear lace

which she placed round her ears and face.

Miss Moo dressed as a movie star

in fake-fur cape all la-de-da.

 

And Flo? She thought it might be fun

to wear an orange cardboard sun.

But then she had some rotten luck,

it slithered past her ears and stuck.

 

She gave the sun a mighty nudge,

but it stayed put; it would not budge.

Then all too soon the time had come

to leave the tip and all the fun.

 

They strolled back home in fancy dress

while cars all got into a mess.

Alarmed at such a scary sight,

they all drove off the road in fright.

 

Then as the cows all neared the shed

they watched old Joe just scratch his head.

He checked his watch and stamped the ground,

annoyed his cows were not around.

 

Then finally he saw the girls,

Marlene out front and dancing twirls.

“This lark must stop,” said Joe quite gruff.

“There’s no more room for all this stuff.

 

Cows don’t dress up or dance or play.

The paddock’s where you need to stay.”

The girls all winked and gave a grin.

If gates aren’t shut, cows don’t stay in.

Caroline Tuohey

• Previously published in The Looking Glass magazine in Ireland.  It’s also on the CKT Website under Caroline’s writing portfolio.
• Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #21

Caroline said: It’s not directly related to a lovely, historical castle but open gates do encourage wandering and that’s what my poem is about.