BEST UDDER IN SHOW - SENIOR DAIRY GOATS - BLUE RIBBON

by Forrest Rapier

At the 83rd Annual North Florida Fair in Tallahassee,
We feed junk quarters

To the metal box, crank the knob
And take stank kibble to the fountain goats.

We hold hooves, rub hay dust on our pant legs
And meander to silently admire the Blue

Ribbon Silkie; even chickens in cages can be cute.
Outside the animal tent, Geppetto is dunking

His sausage-puppet son in a washtub of boiling
Peanut oil. Hushpuppies slap hard on acid

Evenings when birria consomé is the new
Sauvage scent of a luckboy who gets goaded

Into competing in a squirt gun game to win
Your heart back, even though you’re necking

The sea lion trainer. Next to the water tanks,
People line-up like goats following the one Judas

Goat towards the front of the line where
Cameras explode like a chill splash of coke.

I dare you to memorize this—and take
Lunch early to meet me in the car park

In the future, so we can pack snacks in a box
To take on our walk when we go to the park

On a random afternoon in June when I pop
A clamshell box open and ask, Will you—





Forrest Rapier has published poems in dozens of literary journals across the country, including Asheville Poetry Review, Best New Poets, Denver Quarterly, and Greensboro Review. He has received scholarships and writing residencies from Brevard College, Key West Literary Seminar, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the University of Virginia. His debut poetry collection, As the Den Burns, was published by Texas Review Press in 2022.