Face

by Matthew Murrey / November 15th, 2020

Out the window
through falling snow
we saw the long face of a cow.

We were in our car
beside the slatted metal
of a livestock truck.

One animal face
with black, plum-sized eyes
was taking its last looks:

red and white lights
of evening traffic,
the snow-dimmed glimmer

of the city’s tall buildings,
and tiny-eyed faces like ours
going by in cars—

all our human world
going about its business.

Matthew Murrey's poems have appeared in many journals, most recently in Okay Donkey, One, and JAMA. He received an NEA Poetry Fellowship a number of years ago, and his debut poetry collection, Bulletproof, was published in 2019 by Jacar Press. Matthew is a high school librarian in Urbana, Illinois where he lives with his partner. They have two adult sons. Read other articles by Matthew, or visit Matthew's website.

This article was posted on Sunday, November 15th, 2020 at 8:03am and is filed under Poetry.