First paragraph is a killer--no idyll here.

of County Clare and fields that were full of cows and sheep owned by folks who lived far away

and

And the same beasts are here, herded into the meat district from trains that smell worse than winter silage ever did

You capture a moment in time. The piece offers no promise of escape, although the two characters hope for it.

'If it's quiet I'll go now,

If it's quiet he seeks, he will be sorely disappointed in Santa Fe, we suspect.

A biting, sober piece of writing @stuartcturnbull