She could bear the force
that bent her on all fours;
her eyes splaying to soft fruits;
hands, feet, chiseled to hooves;
and the useless vowel of her voice
and the ceaseless, vile flies.

But this was not yet Hell.
That was the birthing stall
where they stole her calf
and her pumped milk was industrial grief;
where they soon returned, returned
with their needles of sperm.

The Gods who did with her as they pleased;
the meat-eaters, the lovers of cheese.



Io, in Greek mythology, daughter of Inachus (the river god of Argos) and the Oceanid Melia. 
Under the name of Callithyia, Io was regarded as the first priestess of Hera, the wife of Zeus. 
Zeus fell in love with her and, to protect her from the wrath of Hera, changed her into a white heifer.