NEW MOWN HAY, RAISED BY HORSES, ODE TO STEPHANIE,CPITS in class poems

NEW MOWN HAY

I awoke to the clattering
of hooves on pavement,

the jingle of halter rings,

the secret whispering of horses 

as they cropped the moonlit grass 

still damp and glistening with dew, 

their coats, silken in the velvet night. 

The bright stars dazzle my eyes 

with their icy glint, and breath,
the scent of new mown hay

and that primal animal warmth
rises up to tickle the senses.

5/10/18


RAISED BY HORSES

I was a wild child, raised by horses. 

I chewed on grass sweet at the knuckle 

and nibbled upon molasses oats. 

I pawed at the ground and whinnied

collecting my gait at the canter 

and hand-gallop. A pencil for snaffle bit 

a belt for surcingle, and ribbons for reins.

We believed we were circus ponies 

we pranced to invisible music 

and we bowed to an invisible crowd.

5/10/18

 

ODE TO STEPHANIE

Stephanie who always met 

kindness with kindness 

and anger with kindness,

her abiding love for animals 

carried her forth
until the day of no return 

that brought a deep abiding sadness.
The mother who died too soon, 

the fire consuming more than dreams. 

I remember how we
used to sneak into the barn 

with a box of cake mix
and water it down 

and slurp it up like a frosting 

our sweet tooth
making us petty thieves. 

And the time I got a pet rat 

a spotted baby,
my grandmother said No 

so I took it to Steph's house 

and we made a pact,
we kept it in a shoebox 

but it ate its way through
the cardboard to freedom

and one night it escaped
to the sweet beyond.

5/10/18