Is This Your Cow? | Nicole Caruso Garcia

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3 mins read

After 100 days learning German on Duolingo.com

Your cow is pretty. I like your shoes. 
Do you like me? I bring strawberries and wine. 
The garden is not beautiful.  

I eat the potato because I like potatoes!  
This vegetarian does not like me. 

Questions are great. Is it my turn?  
How many children do you have? How much wine do they drink? 
Are these your pants? Either yes or no. 
When is a man a man? Your oranges are big. 
Why is it so small? Is that a button?  

A bee! 

The man is not sad. He is never sad. He drinks a lot of beer.  
The man has a spider. No woman likes him.  
I like him since he is paying for the food. 

I do not wear any clothes. I am not wearing anything.  
I am normal. I have many fans. 
I am drinking and you are paying. 

The beer is weak. The bear is strong.  
You don’t know the bear. (I know him through a friend.) 
The bear is wearing her dresses. (The shoes do not fit.)  

A bee! 

We are not men. All women. The girls are not sad.  
My tool, please. (The women like the tools.) That is not a toy. 
I do not know these people. Are these your fans? 
You are babies. We are playing without you. 

A bee! 

You are not funny. Nobody likes that.  
The cat is funny. He runs as soon as he sees you. 
You are weak. You are heavy. You are slow. You learn nothing. 

This bed is cold. The house has no roof.  
No, it is not easy. 
That is not a garden.  
Nobody plays.  
No one speaks.  
No one is good. 

And if he hears you?  
The enemy is weak.  
We do not see the enemy.  
We are running even though we are tired. 
We see the trees. We see the sun.  
As long as we are fast, we run. 
I am alive. I know that. 

Without you I am nothing. It is a garden without flowers.
The wind is cold.  
We have no bread.  
The sky is falling.


Nicole Caruso Garcia is Assistant Poetry Editor at Able Muse and a Board member at Poetry by the Sea: A Global Conference. Her work appears in Atticus Review, Crab Orchard Review, DIAGRAM, Measure, Mezzo Cammin, PANK, Plume, The Raintown Review, Rattle, RHINO, Tupelo Quarterly, and elsewhere. Connect with her at nicolecarusogarcia.com.