Constant Reader discussion

A fairly well-known poem from 1977.

The Two-headed Calf

By Laura Gilpin

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass.
And as he stares into the sky, there
are twice as many stars as usual.

This has been one of my favorite poems in a long time. The poor little thing, who will die as a freak of nature, has this moment of life and glory and peace with twice as many stars

I want to cry. I've already cried once today at the nursing home where they ran out of my dad's pain medicine, so he's been in pain all day and probably will be tomorrow and the next day. I'm going to get him home where he can have some peace, despite my mom's objections to having strangers in her house - and the exorbitant cost. Empathy is in short supply here, as it is with the farm boys in this poem.