The Feast of Brigid
The red-haired girl draws milk
in a pail from the earth.
The earth is a spotted cow
with teats that are geysers
and anthills and rotten logs.
The red-haired girl
strokes and strokes
the dark soil.
When the milk rises in spurts
she catches its arc of white froth
to give out to visitors.
At the gate of the farm
the world holds out its hand,
while in a field rimed with frost
the first snowdrop toddles from the ground. *
All images and words unless otherwise stated are copyright to © Shullie H Porter 2014- 2021
*© poem, The Feast of Brigid – Jill Hammer – Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Volume 22, Number 1, Spring, 2006 , pp. 75-82 | 10.1353/jfs.2006.0009
The Delightful Mrs P 