![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/100c9dca03642d3643dbd8ed1039a858.jpg\")
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Martin Hayes<\/strong> presents\u00a05 poems from Ox<\/a>, his new collection. All images by Gustavius Payne<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Ox trust<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n the oxen bought tickets to the annual oxen versus goats football match none of the goats were as forward thinking as the oxen the coach was not an ox being on hard times he coached at a higher standard all of the oxen were so happy and excited on the night before the match at the secret location once a farmer *** the starter next loosened teeth the wine then later the feast is never over never done ***<\/p>\n a night in the leaky barn<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n this Ox and this Cow ate each other gradually he chewed up all of her smiles he said he was full now so they fell asleep until morning Ox gets a visit from social services<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n they visited him once ***<\/p>\n Ox dealing with the light<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n when light comes in through the cracks in the leaky barn when light reflects off the steel handle of Farmer\u2019s thwacking stick when the low morning light of the sun when moonlight and when the lights of the abattoir which all helps to prove
which though having stellar meaning in the ox and goat world
nevertheless had to be played in a secret location
because oxen and goats are not allowed to play football anymore – silly<\/p>\n
who because they were armed with infinitesimally bigger brains
had gone and got themselves a coach<\/p>\n
or a goat
but an ex-Farmer
who had fallen foul of The National Bank Of Farmer\u2019s interest rates
losing everything<\/p>\n
he\u2019d answered an advert in the paper
and after one single clandestine meeting
landed the job
of becoming the oxen\u2019s new football coach<\/p>\n
than any goat or ox had ever done
and tactically
he was aeons ahead of all the goats and oxen
who all had clods for brains<\/p>\n
they felt sure that with the ex-Farmer\u2019s help
they were going to inflict the heaviest defeat on the goats
in history<\/p>\n
just after the team had been selected
it was revealed to the ex-Farmer
the secret location of tomorrow\u2019s match
and as soon as the coast was clear
the ex-Farmer dialled the manager of The National Bank Of Farmers
offering him information
that would make him very important indeed
but only if The National Bank Of Farmers
gave him back
his farm<\/p>\n
all the oxen and goats were slaughtered on the spot
and the only evidence
was the following unfinished sentence
scraped into the floor in blood
by what looked like an oxen\u2019s hoof<\/p>\n
always a far\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2003
![\"Picture3\"](\"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Picture3.jpg\")
\u2003
Ox in hunger worries about his colleague Mole<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
a torn-out tongue
tender with the years of grubby language
softening up its muscle<\/p>\n
the Earth\u2019s platter
spread with the scorched heads of its occupants mouths agape
stuck in charred-black laughter
from the high temperatures of a sudden cooking<\/p>\n
to be sucked clean of their leftover gum-flesh
hanging on to their upturned roots
as an ache inherits the mouths of all those that are left<\/p>\n
blood upon blood
deep as the dark of Moles\u2019 eyes
after culling<\/p>\n
dessert
the cream of white fat opened up at Orgreave beautifully rendered
beaten soft and silky
to drip like victory down their iron throats<\/p>\n
Ox\u2019s tail still wags within its bones
but he knows it won\u2019t be long
before Farmer will work out a way
to snap it open get in there
and lick at the marrow of his insides
too<\/p>\n![\"Picture4\"](\"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Picture4.jpg\")
\u2003<\/p>\n
it wasn\u2019t ordered or planned or anything
they just became bored one night
and stoked up a hell of a hunger<\/p>\n
kept them in his intestines like eggs in a nest
she delighted in teasing his words
into the microwave
where she nuked them
into seeping bulging-eyed monsters
he munched on her eyes until all she could see was the back of his throat
she steamed away his tongue for that
he filleted of her womb to get her back
she peeled back the rind of his sternum
and licked on the marrowy insides like it were an ice-lolly
he uprooted both of her legs
then sank in up to his neck, the Hyena
she just laid back and laughed louder
sucking clean the mango stone she\u2019d found in his head
he put his hands inside her stomach
and clenched them to fists as tight as he could
she jumped up and down on his eyeballs
as though she was beating meat
he put in the oven her nails and teeth
she brought out her blender and blitzed his penis<\/p>\n
she said she was tired
and besides
it wasn\u2019t fun anymore<\/p>\n
what was left fitted tightly up against what was left
and never woke up again<\/p>\n
when the strapping into their ploughs
diverted their hunger away
from each other<\/p>\n
never needed to knock
the leaky barn not being his
doors were left off latch
inside the filth afflicted
no pictures nailed the wall to yearn a lost heart
and not one but sixty of them stood
swishing their tails staring
at what the walls might bring their still beating hearts
language was not chucked around this place uselessly
everyone knew only one word none of them could quell
none of them!
they were prisoners of their own song
Hunger it was called<\/p>\n![\"Picture5\"](\"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Picture5.jpg\")
\u2003<\/p>\n
it hurt Ox\u2019s eyes<\/p>\n
Ox\u2019s flanks quiver and tremble<\/p>\n
reflects off the puddles in the yard
Ox\u2019s heart sinks<\/p>\n
bathes the dusty roots with its magic
Ox tosses and turns
thinking that a great spell is being placed upon him<\/p>\n
burn through the night from a distance
looking like a search party
coming to the rescue
Ox hasn\u2019t a clue
that is where it will all end<\/p>\n
when you see an ox
momentarily pause in a field
swishing his head from side to side
like in a great struggle to set something free
there\u2019s no need to worry
about the revolution starting anytime soon
because all it is
is Ox pretending again
that he\u2019s got something going on up there
when really there is only blackness and fog
and the pain from all of this light<\/p>\n