Twilight Chorus

twilight gathers as I walk
the winding road above the valley
I round a bend
and there below
like a field of stars
the pueblo begins to sparkle

a low bellow drifts
through the deepening darkness
I approach the ravine
thinking perhaps a lone Corriente
is calling for his herd

the bellow comes again—
and then another, deeper voice
I scan the ridgeline
until I see their silhouettes:
a line of ruminants

low bellows rise—
one, then another,
as one fades, another begins
a deliberate chorus of greeting
my friends, the cows —
shadows folding into night,
voices weaving an embrace —
have come to know me well.

— Lorena Wolfman (2021, 2025)