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WHO IS HE
MICHAEL EARL CRAIG


from TALKATIVENESS and first published in BATEAU


He steps carefully out of the battered trailer,
putting each foot down with a purpose.
His head moves slowly like a large movie camera.
He is caked with manure, swaybacked, ribby.
The kids want to pet him.
The parents feel like sobbing.
Little wrapped pieces of pink bubblegum
go skidding across the asphalt at his feet.
He is Oppenheimer, a retired farm animal from Amish country.