A poem by Lee Butler
Image from Laura Gilpin’s TikTok @sp3llb00k
** In memory of Ted, the two-headed calf who was euthanized after only a day. Inspired by a poem on Tiktok by Lauren Gilpin, Lee hopes to remember the life and death of Ted through the form of poetry. The calf was taxidermized and the farm owners plan to auction him off. **
In Dakota, they euthanized a baby
Before he had 26 hours to breathe.
He spent his last moments torn from his mother’s warmth,
Never given the chance to learn how to walk or graze the vast grass fields.
Did he get to see how wide the night sky stretches
Before he blinked his last goodbye?
To love and cherish is how he was supposed to be remembered,
Not sold at an auction like a prized car or old furniture.
Stuff him and mount him for you to remember his existence,
Of how every moment was like holding a pure diamond
And how bright he made life-
Not to pay for someone’s college tuition
Or be framed as a 4 eyed freak on a roadside retreat.
2 stars were added to the sky tonight,
Igniting the universe with his eyes.
May his mother and brother find him with every look above
And remember that he was truly one of a kind.
May Ted may rest knowing he was loved.
Links to TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRc4DmjE/
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRc4AxV5/
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