Visual Poem. No. 02: Monday's Loss & Monday's Gain
- Jill S.
- Mar 3
- 3 min read
Another week has passed since I wrote this poem.
Just a few days before this, I had shared that we had purchased three new bred heifers from down the road at Producers' Livestock in Vale, OR, and branded them before I went into work that day.
We were so proud of ourselves for knocking it out, doing it together, and moving on with the day.
Bought on a Wednesday, branded on a Thursday, and then turned out to pasture to join the rest of the herd.
A very productive day.
On the following Monday, during the AM calf checks (it's our calving season), Nate found #9 struggling. She gave birth to a calf that was not breathing and could not be saved.
He quickly grafted the newborn's hide and sprang to action.
Enter Shivers - the calf ("puppy", as I affectionately and annoyingly call all calves) that was a twin, whose mama rejected him due to his sister being bigger than him and getting first dibs on mama's milk, knocking poor Shivers out of the running.
Shivers was being bottle-fed by us all!
It was a team effort to say the least.
But a fun one!
I would fight you to get my turn! 😉
Nate quickly placed the stillborns' hide onto Shivers to trick its mama into believing her calf had survived and that it was, in fact, none other than Shivers.
Ta-da!
She believed it!
Nearly immediately!
Which almost never happens so easily!
Regardless of Shivers finding a real mama with real milk and no longer needing to rely on replacement milk, and regardless of the mama having another baby to love, Nate was really hurt.
All ranchers take these events to heart. Deeply, deeply to heart.
Yes, it hurts because it is a significant financial loss, (to put it into perspective, in today's market, that calf alone was a loss of approximately $1,500 if sold as a calf.), but they/we also care deeply for the animals, their welfare, and the sustainability of the land and process.
Plainly, it just sucks to lose a life.
So while Nate was really bummed about the events of Monday, I quickly found the grace to try to change the narrative and explain that, although there was a loss, there was also an amazing gain that day, and that should be celebrated.
Nate's reaction was "yeah, I guess."
Typical man.
As stewards of the land, every life matters, every head counts.
And as a writer - well, I did what I do and immediately wrote a poem by dinner time.
Given Nate's emotional state, I chose not to share it with him at the time.
In fact, I told him I wrote a poem about it, and, not surprisingly, he said, "Why would you want to write about something like that?"
I had to explain that writing is therapy.
It is for expressing feelings and life events, and for resolving thoughts and feelings that don't have a place to go.
The words find space on a page, and with each sentence, the exhale from a tightened chest, and worries in the mind are eased.
At least for me.
Not for him, not for everyone.
But for me.
It took a few days, but I finally shared my poem with him, and he liked it.
The poem that I wished I didn't have to write from an immediate reactive experience, but such is life.
What do you say, Visual Poem No.03 is light-hearted? 😂
Thanks for reading, y'all!
~JS
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