issue 30 > poetry > kress

Every Sanskrit word means itself, its opposite,
the name of a god, and a sexual position.
Which means that any Sanskrit poem could yield as many
as two-hundred and fifty-six different meanings.
So here is one and maybe it’s true or maybe not.
Back then, cattle had human skin. Humans had the skin
of cattle. But the cattle were miserable and
could not bear the heat, the rain, the flies and mosquitoes.
They went to humans, begging to switch skins. If we do
what’s in it for us, they asked? Well, for one thing you could
eat us, the cattle said, and you could make your clothing
from our skin. And wear our hides when you sacrifice us,
so we know not to harm you in this world or the next.






Also by Leonard Kress:

To the Unnamed Hero/Harlot in Gilgamesh