How I Mistook the World for a Cow

by Cathy Dreyer

It’s true. I thought the world was a large cow.
I used to drain her bulgy dugs most days.
But blame the world for this. The world allowed
me to believe she was a cow, the way
she’d moo on cue and squirt out milk to drink.
When I tied her up too tightly, somehow
she only twitched her tail and let me think
she loved to roam around and play the cow.
I mean, she never tried to get away.
She never bellowed to be fed or sheltered,
just stood, slow-blinking, at what came her way,
unmoved by belching trucks and cars that pelted
past. Oh well. So, the world is not a cow.
How will I fill my empty stomach now?

This is a sample poem from Rebel Talk, an anthology of poems responding to the climate crisis edited by Rip Bulkeley, designed by students at Oxford Brookes University, and published by Extinction Rebellion Oxford on 5 November 2021, price £10. The foreword was written by Philip Gross. Money raised will go to Extinction Rebellion Oxford. Copies can be bought from independent bookshops who should request it from Hive. Enquiries can be sent to  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.