WHAT ARE CALVES FOR?

There are three calves (not counting the young of the Bos taurus).

1. The two-headed gastrocnemius contracts,

lifting one heel to support the body

while the opposite leg

falls forward, in its turn bearing the weight.

Thus the ballerina

hovers across the stage on her points

and the child reaches while no one is looking

for chocolates on the top shelf.

2. Calves, whose muscle fibres fill the skin

like gloves with a smooth depilated tightness,

caress eyes and lips.

Swollen sacks of wheat grain

on two sides of the lubricious triangle,

they stretch imagination to bursting point –

mollets, barrigas de pedra, polpacci, pantorillas –

Languages flex weak muscles.

3. Tasty as a main dish, your grandmother’s calves –

after a useful life and before degeneration –

may be deep-fried or roast

at Mark 6 in a fan-assisted oven.

They’re delicious (even Granny will swear by them)

and go well in a piri-piri sauce

with baby carrots and sun-dried tomatoes:

a culinary treat that will have you on tiptoes.