Local Networks

I’m going to a place where my phone
will shuck its rod countless times,
out and across Dumfrieshire, returning
commless, dumb, while sheep imitate
traditional ring tones, their untranslated
discontent: the ennui of livestock,
travelling like Bluetooth,
drifting in TV weather map swirls.

I will bring my city metaphors
to see how they fit.

The message returns to haunt the cows
who, at first, bat their glamorous
eyelashes but soon grow scared
and run in tens: fast-moving clouds
like a TV weather map – again –
and have you seen cows run?
By God they’re quick
and graceless, rocking like xmas toys.