Mike
I've heard the "spit" form on TV. It wasn't Little House on the Prairie, but
it was something of that ilk. It might be a typo, but then again it might
not, if it is vernacular. I'm not sure whether you preferred was to were on
the basis of rectitude rather than assonance. If the first, it could well be
that both uses are in circulation. Not that I'm expert on these things. Just
tho't I'd share these reservations in case you were interested, and I know
well enough that there are as many reservations that could be shared in
reverse.
Colin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Horwood" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2003 11:27 AM
Subject: Re Bull - Marcus
Hello Marcus,
Very amusing and well put together IMHO. The last line is a
hoot. A typo in the penultimate line - `spat´ not `spit´ - and I think I´go
for `bovine sex was new´ rather than `were new`. A great read, this one.
Best wishes, Mike
BULL
"I thought you said that bull was shy,"
My uncle said as he and I
Stopped walking out in mid-July
And leaned on his neighbor's fence.
"He was," the neighbor said. "Ain't now;
Not so's you'd notice, anyhow."
And its appetite for a brindle cow
Seemed, like the bull, immense.
My uncle asked "So what'd you do?"
The neighbor paused a decade or two,
Then, "Wrote to Agricultural U,"
We watched the bull perform.
At last, my uncle: "What'd they say?"
"Asked for a sample." I thought the way
These two were going it'd take all day
To agree July was warm.
"They sent some serum. I gave him a shot."
He finally said. "You see what I got."
We watched the scene the neighbor'd wrought
Like bovine sex were new.
The bull seemed willing to give his all,
To young or old, to short or tall,
Their udders big, mid-size, or small,
An indiscriminate view.
I thought the calves would long be dead
Of boredom before my uncle said
"What was in it?" and shook his head
And gave my arm a shake
Because while bored and under-awed
I'd found an anthill to maraud
And restlessly had kicked a clod
Just to see it break.
He answered before the thought of sweat
And how it splashed on dust could get
Its grip on me, to my regret.
"Well, I don't rightly know."
We watched the scene the serum caused
Through air the heat had lightly gauzed,
And sweated and waited. He spit, and paused.
"It tasted like licorice, though."
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