18 poems and 5 drawings
1. DEDICATION
To horses in love,
don't go makin' an ideal
of yourselves
drinking out by the river
swinging your long tails around
like you've got all day
to watch the sun
go down on you.
2. GOLD BREEZES
I don’t break horses
just like to watch them run
their long black hair
in gold breezes
gets me fluttering
when I think I could
twist my fingers
through that tail
if she don’t swat me away.
3. PALOMINOS (A)
Only ever talk
to the prettiest horse
at the party.
Screw your uncle
and what he told you
while he taught
how to drive
the tractor.
If you aren’t going
for what you want
then what even
is the point,
and remember
not everyone is into
palominos.
4. I WANNA DANCE WITH YOU
Such a stallion
I won’t deny
never will,
but so fragile in the legs
sprain an ankle
and he don’t dance anymore,
gotta knock him out
right between the eyes
skull-crush.
5. HOLD UR HORSES
Please don’t assume
that just cause
I ain’t champing
at the bit
don’t mean I don’t
want to go riding with you.
It’s just that if I don’t
hold my horses
they’ll up and stampede
knocking over every
single apple cart
in town
just ruining it all
for everyone who bothered
coming to market.
6. MY SPIRIT ANIMAL IS A STONE
Drag me away
through the thunderhead
kicked up by your hooves,
grip the rope hanging
loose from my ankle
until my ears get dull and numbed
to the pounding of your heart.
7. 40 HORSES IN MY HERD
It’s hard to chase horses
on foot
gotta use hills to
build up momentum
gotta grab fluffy clouds
whenever you get the chance
and hang tight
gotta wear a comfy
pair of boots.
8. WHERE DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?
Is my lasso
too tight
around ur neck,
or are you into
this sort of thing?
9. PLEASE
Look you can’t just
lasso the first horse
you see
and go riding off
into the sunset
like in films.
Look just
don’t tell me you find
convenience sexy.
I’m gonna go climb
that mountain.
I know there probably
aren’t any horses up there,
but that isn’t always
the point,
and imagine there were.
10. PALOMINOS (B)
Everyone is into
palominos.
11. FUJI-SAN
The main difference
between
mountains and molehills,
is that you can’t loose a boot
to a mountain,
unless
it’s a volcano.
12. WHAT’S A METAPHOR
I don’t go riding often
but when I do,
I try to put the saddle on
well and proper.
A lot of fellas don’t bother
and end up with
their faces in the dirt
at the very least,
a broken nose.
13. URANUS!
Come with me
out
into the night
we can shout at the blinky stars
calling them by their rude names.
14. 27 MILES AN HOUR
Riding high right between
hope and a hard place
spurs digging into
your ass,
trying to get you to go
faster than I could handle.
15. A LITTLE HELP HERE
Stone got stuck
in the hoof
might as well be a boulder
for all the trouble its
givin’ me
might as well be a mountain
trying to pry it out
with a twig.
16.HERCULES IN LOVE
I see your herd down there
racing through the valley
like they own the place
tearing out little grasses
by the roots
pummeling dirt into dust.
I wanna flood that valley.
All my boulders are at the ready
to cast down the riverbed.
Just waiting on you,
so what’s the word?
17.BLACK IRON
Sometime you’ve just gotta
try
being cruel to be kind.
Kick me there right
in the chest
break a rib
or two
I’ve got spares.
Leave your print there
branded fresh pink
so’s I can wear it out
for good luck.
18.LETS GET STINKY
Galloping miles beneath
the swollen red sun
my horse likes your horse
all steaming with beauty
and getting real stinky.