Country Living

The goat bleated in the pasture—                    

a sound of surprise and indignation:                                   

her first birthing.

The first kid fell before we reached the fence, sleek and dark and wet—                  

white with black spots, she was up and jumping in two                         

minutes flat.

We waited about 10 minutes for the second,           

the mother took time out to clean the first one,                          

licking her from nose to tail while the kid                                  

bumped her head into various parts of her mother                                              

experimentally,                                                    

not really knowing what she was                                                              

looking for.

The male kid came out slowly and took longer to stand up—         

all spindly legged and awkward,                 

black with white markings.                     

By the time he took his first vertical leap                           

his sister had already figured out                                 

how to manage the teat.

He wandered over to check it out, shouldered her aside,           

and soon they were both sucking at the udder,                     

their little tails twitching like the small keys on                           

mechanical toys                                   

winding down.

It was a beautiful day—big billowy clouds,            

gulls screaming as they flew over to the ocean,                   

sky so blue it made your eyes ache.

wo days later the male kid curled up to take a nap                                                                         

and died.

Born in San Francisco, Anya attended U.C. Berkeley. She moved to the  Applegate in 1972, where she and her former husband bought 11 acres  and built their log cabin, starting with logging their own trees. Over the  years, she has gardened and raised goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats. She  earned her Master Gardener and Master Land Steward certifications. She  wrote feature news stories for the Medford Mail Tribune for 13 years until  the paper folded. Her hobbies include antiquing, cooking, jewelry making,  silversmithing, basket making, sewing, stained glass, monoprinting, and  planting trees

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Have a submission for Poetry Corner, either written by an Applegate  resident or about the Applegate? Email it to Applegater poetry  editor Paul Tipton at ptipton4u2c@gmail.com.