Munch Oreos at night when no one’s looking.
Grass-eaters for public image while we
enter work at daybreak, they open boxes
when the last SLAC car leaves at dusk,
pull two dark rounds apart to lick
white icing, absorbing their surroundings.

It’s not widely known their lives began
as plain black cows. Over time,
they became what they ate. Now
their pale centers make us smile,
reminding those who pass
of after-school snacks,
tall glasses of cold milk.

– Janice Dabney