Copper Mine

If horses were wishes… 

I would have taken the horse

on trial, for two weeks before I left for Iowa City. 

Would he stay sound?

He has four off-white hooves and they have tender frogs

in the spring grass.  I’ve never had a horse with so much chrome. 

He was very fancy. 

How would I win the hack? 

This horse would tell me how to ride him, not why.  His mouth was soft,

but his head was hard.

Was he too much horse for me?

Sometimes, I would have to be closing my fingers on the curb chain,

hoping to hold him back, back him off, half halt.  I must make contact from

my hands to his head.  I was afraid of failing. 

This horse as he was?

I was afraid of falling from him.  I was afraid of falling for him. 

What do I know?

I am afraid of heights, though this horse, he has kind eyes.

How like a bridge is a horse truly? 

A horse can carry a person across a bridge, closing up the distance.

Oh dear, difference is seductive.