Two-Headed Calf Poem by Laura Gilpin

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Tomorrow when the farm boys find this freak of nature, they will wrap his body, in newspaper and him to the museum, Two Headed Calf by Laura Gilpin carry t... But tonight he is alive and in the north field with his mother. twice as many It is a perfect Summer evening: the moon vising over the orchard, the wind in the gras and as he stares into the sky, there are as usual. stars

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The Two-Headed Calf Tomorrow when the farm boys find this freak of nature, they will wrap his body in newspaper and carry him to the museum. But tonight he is alive and in the north field with his mother. It is a perfect summer evening: the moon rising over the orchard, the wind in the grass. And as he stares into the sky, there are twice as many stars as usual.

ALEN SERESS @AlenSeress Why would they word it like that "the only way left for them to see the sky is to study it's reflection in the mud" bro is this two headed calf poem's evil cousin or what pigs can't look up ALL IMAGES VIDEOS NEWS X 2:58 AM - Mar 30, 2023 16.4K Views MAPS Q It is physically impossible. Pigs can't look up into the sky - they can lie down to see the sky, but not in the standing position. The anatomy of their neck muscles won't let them look totally upwards. The only way left to see the sky (or only its reflection) is to look in the mud. ***

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Two Headed Calf Tomorrow, They will wrap his body tn newspaper But tonight he is alive By Laura Gripto When the farm boys find this freak of nature, and carry him to the museum. and in the north field with his mother. It is a perfect summer evenings the moon rising over the orchard, the wind in the grass. And as he stares into the sky, there are twice as many stars as usual Gogarty 2:

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Overview

The Two-Headed Calf is a poem by Laura Gilpin about a two-headed calf that dies the morning after its birth. The poem was published as a part of Gilpin's 1977 award-winning poetry collection The Hocus-Pocus of the Universe. Online, the poem became the subject of webcomics, fan art and memes starting around 2019 for its emotional impact, also becoming a prevalent tattoo.

Background

On December 1st, 1976, Laura Gilpin's poetry collection The Hocus-Pocus of the Universe was published, winning the 1976 Walt Whitman Award.^[1] The collection includes a short poem titled "The Two-Headed Calf" about a calf born with two heads that dies as a result, as most two-headed animals die shortly after their birth (excerpt show below).^[2]^[3]

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass. And
as he stares into the sky, there are
twice as many stars as usual.

Online Presence

"The Two-Headed Calf" poem became increasingly popularized online starting in 2019. That year, on March 14th, 2019, webcomic artist @adamtots posted a comic to Instagram^[4] depicting the poem, garnering over 414,000 likes in four years (shown below). It was reposted to Reddit's /r/wholesomememes that day, garnering over 17,800 upvotes in the same span of time.

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this freak of nature, they will wrap his body in newspaper and carry him to the museum. v the moon rising over the orchard, the But tonight he is alive and in the north field with his mother. It is a perfect summer evening: the wind in the grass. 44 And as he stares into the sky, there are twice as many stars as usual. by @adamtots based on the poem "The Two-Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin

On September 1st, 2021, Twitter^[5] user @itslittletunny posted an original artistic visualization of the poem, garnering over 29,000 likes in two years (shown below, left). The poem also became a prominent reference in tattoos. For example, on November 17th, a Redditor shared a tattoo based on the poem to /r/tattoos,^[10] garnering over 7,200 upvotes in two years (shown below, right).

On November 17th, TikToker^[6] @juliaroblin posted a video sharing artwork visualizing the poem, garnering over 1.9 million views in two years (shown below, left). On March 28th, 2022, TikToker^[7] @bone_merrow posted an animation referencing the poem along with a reading of it, garnering over 200,000 views in a year (shown below, right). On January 25th, 2023, the Interesting Literature^[8] blog then published an analysis of the poem.

@juliaroblin Someone asked me to draw this poem (by laura gilpin) but I can’t find the comment now argh #fyp #foryou #twoheadedcalf ♬ State Lines – Novo Amor

@bone_merrow 🌙🐄🌙 Does anyone recognize theconstellation? Credit to @the.k.co.art for the double moon/stars idea!#twoheadedcalf#c alf#c ow#a nimation#a rt#a rtist#a rtistsoftiktok#O scarsAtHome#W omenOwnedBusiness#a nimals#f arm#f armlife#f arming#e #t rending#t iktok#L ove#m othersday#m om#M omsofTikTok#b aby#b abyboy#b abies#m oon#s tar#s tars#a strology#t aurus#z odiac#h oroscope#l ove#s ad#s adstory#s torytime#c ute#c utebaby#m oo#w illsmith#s lap#S mellLikeIrishSpring ♬ original sound – Stage Door Johnny

On March 1st, 2023, Twitter^[9] user @nicejewishbutch posted, "Gay people love to get a tattoo of a two headed calf staring into the sky seeing twice as many stars as usual," garnering over 2,700 likes in a month (shown below).