Wendell Hawken / Matthew Klein photo
Introducing a new poem by the contemporary Poet Laureate of foxhunting.
When I rode,
I rode on a loose rein,
kept a good horse
(in my riding lifetime
I had three) under me
between my legs—
yes, there’s that—
and true and potent
was our oneness
(elevated words,
I know, but to gallop
an open field
and fly a fence
in stride is completely
true and potent)
one by one
all three good horses
in my riding lifetime
when I could breathe
before joints hurt.
I had good hands,
hummed to all three,
watched their ears
turn to listen.
As my mother said,
near her end,
I had my time.
Posted March 31, 2021