Stable Embrace

…on this 150th Derby Day, focused on winning, I’m remembering the horses and share this poem…

Each week I pass the stable
on my way to Pilates
leaving just enough time to pull over,
admire their majesty, muscle and shine,
long necks bending to munch pasture grass.

Today, just before Christmas, this:

Without the advantage of arms we humans
think we need to execute a kiss, without words,
the foreplay unfolding in black unblinking eyes
nostrils blaring heated billowy breath
condensing into the cloudy
snow-flecked air around them

without soft music save a cardinal’s cheer
across the pasture frozen:

they bow and rub
blow and hiss
bobbing, nose-to-nose
their silhouette
tracing an inverted heart
against mid-morning.