when they heard the sounds
of the first machines
they should have known
where it would lead them
but they didn’t realize
until it was too late
after there wasn’t enough time
left for them to organize
they were unhitched
from the plows and the wagons
the lucky ones led
out to the pasture
where they were allowed to graze
almost forgotten
while the others found themselves
trapped in narrow corridors
and forced to move forward
toward the ugly smell of death
that everybody called
the future