Black Horse

Poem inspired by animal captivity

He walked, his strong black legs pounded the earth with each step he took,

His sleek body moved round the pen like a champion gladiator patrolling his arena

His dark hairs glimmered in the night like the ocean reflecting the moon

His tail swayed from side to side like a pendulum measuring the seconds

His slick ebony main flowed over his left side like an oil waterfall

His nostrils puffed out air like steam from a stream train

He let out a loud neigh like a lion announcing he was king of the jungle

He curiously walked over to me at the gate like someone answering their door to a stranger

I expected him to rise up on his hind legs to announce his power and glory

I expected him to flaunt his pride and to look down at me,

But instead he put his head down to me as though in deference

He looked defeated, it was unnatural.

I looked at the 30ft pen that he called home

The trough where he ate his dinner.

I seen the prison where he was born and raised

And I knew it was never meant to be like this.

I looked him in his eyes so that I could see how defeated he was,

But he wasn’t really looking at me

He was looking past me at the fields, at the hills, at the horizon.

Then I realized that although there was submission in his actions

There was rebellion was in his body, there was freedom in his eyes.

Reviews

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

I like the breath of defeat overcome by the strength of spirit in this one. I think we all have a bit of that black horse within us, desiring to run unfettered and free. While reigned in, we always yearn. Lovely!