I am the Purple Cow
in response to Gelett Burgess’s poem “Purple Cow”Here I am, the purple cow.
They say no one wants to be me.
And on top of that, somehow
no one seems to see me.
Could it be my purple hide
is really ultraviolet—
unseen by the human eye
no matter how I style it?
People spot me all the time
but they pretend I’m see-through:
“Purple cow? That’s just a rhyme,
it could never be true!”
They shudder at my purple butter.
Perhaps they find it scary
to think that such an oddish udder
makes ordinary dairy.
But my mother always moo’d:
“To bovine self be true!”
And since my self is purple-hued,
it’s no use being blue.
So here I am, as you can see,
purple in plain view.
If you be you, and I be me,
what marvels we can do.
They say no one wants to be me.
And on top of that, somehow
no one seems to see me.
Could it be my purple hide
is really ultraviolet—
unseen by the human eye
no matter how I style it?
People spot me all the time
but they pretend I’m see-through:
“Purple cow? That’s just a rhyme,
it could never be true!”
They shudder at my purple butter.
Perhaps they find it scary
to think that such an oddish udder
makes ordinary dairy.
But my mother always moo’d:
“To bovine self be true!”
And since my self is purple-hued,
it’s no use being blue.
So here I am, as you can see,
purple in plain view.
If you be you, and I be me,
what marvels we can do.
This poem is copyright (©) Stefan Karlsson 2024
About the Writer
Stefan Karlsson
Stefan is a poet and artist based in Portland, Oregon. He received his MFA in Poetry from the University of California-Irvine. His poems (for children) have appeared in The Dirigible Balloon, Paddler Press, Little Thoughts Press, and Tyger Tyger Magazine. His paper marbling artwork can be found on Instagram @nautiluspaper, and his poetry for kids can be found on Twitter @stefkidlit and on YouTube @StefanKidsPoetry.
