I step out onto my balcony. The sun is shining brightly – there are hardly any shadows to be seen. The street is unusually wide. On the other balconies are scattered people. There are no cars parked. Distant, just before an underpass at the end of the street I see a person turning around without orientation. Suddenly a small shadow bends around the corner. I can’t place it. Then something pushes past the shadow. I lean over the balcony balustrade to see better and see a black and white spotted cow. Now I also hear gentle cow bell ringing (it must be a very small bell). There are more cows turning around the corner. Soon there are ten of them and they are spreading leisurely on the street. They are grazing stalks that grow around the trees and in concrete cracks. The cow right under my balcony suddenly turns around. On the other side of her body she has a zebra pattern. I smile and gaze at the other cows, which also have very different patterns on each side of their bodies – some patterns move like colourful animated pictures over the cow’s backs. I’m happy to leave the road to the cows.
Christina Ertl-Shirley
PANDEMIC DREAMS ARCHIVE 