The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Gilpin, Laura. "The Two-Headed Calf." The Hocus Pocus of the Universe (Doubleday & Co., 1977).

Note that all parenthetical citations refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.

"The Two-Headed Calf," a poem by Laura Gilpin originally published in her 1977 collection The Hocus Pocus of the Universe, is composed of two stanzas: a tercet and a sestet. Aligning with Gilpin's career as a poet, nurse, and advocate for patient-centered care at hospitals, this poem (as well as others in the collection) deals with empathy.

In the poem, a baby calf is born with two heads and gets marked out as a freak of nature. Destined to be carried by farm boys to a museum the following day, the two-headed calf enjoys one peaceful night in the field with his mother. Because he has two heads, there appear to him to be twice as many stars in the sky as others would perceive.