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We picked our waydown to the beach,watching the wavesdragging out of our reach:tangling tails, like a sodden sheet;dangling entrailsfrom the gut of the sea. |
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Hoarding our meals (alfalfa and rolls);trying not to catchthe cold eyes of the gulls-- |
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I hope Mother |
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Nature has notoverheard!(Though, she doles out hurtlike a puking bird.) |
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We stayed for the winter. |
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No-one told usabout the laws of the land. |
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I hold my own. |
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But you, with your hunger--you, on the other hand--make yourself known. |
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And when we were found, |
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I know we both grieved. |
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My heart made the sound ofsnow falling from eaves. |
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You and me, |
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Bess,we were as thick as thieves. |
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So I swore, nonetheless, up and down,it was only me. |
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They took me away,and, after some timestudying my case,must have made up their minds. |
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By the time you realized |
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I was dying,it must have been too late. |
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I believe you were not lying. |
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It is the day. |
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I wake,with my ears cocked up like a gun(like every day, of course),yanked by my wriststo the sugar-front courtyard--now tell me, what have |
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I done?It seems |
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I have stolen a horse. |
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I step to the gallows. |
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Who do you think you are--arching your hooves like a crane,in the shallow gutterthat lines the boulevards,crowded with folkswho just stare as |
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I hang?It's all the same. |
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Kindness comes over me;what was your name? |
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It makes no difference. |
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I'm glad that you came. |
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Forever, I'll listen to your glad neighing. |
