The Horses on Spetses
The horses on Spetses wear leather
blinders painted with Greek symbols
from the ancient golden age.
All day they clip-clop at a bridled
pace.
Their island carriages cart hungry
travelers to the air-conditioned
hotels
and hopeful shops. Festive
beads
and blue and white ribbons adorn
their wilted manes as loud streams
of rental scooters zoom near.
The cocky speedsters coolly swerve
past the chariot-like wheels.
Throughout their years, the horses
trot. They haul the heft of
revelers
craving the best beaches
and Dionysian ecstasy.
The sun-browned drivers wipe
tired sweat from their necks
and let tourist kids ride up front
with them. The little ones
love
the pretty horses and eagerly look
about when they hear jingling
bells and quick-quick hooves
driven at a collared rate.
Jean Biegun, retired from inner city teaching, began writing poetry in 2000 to counter job stress, and it worked. Poems have appeared in several publications including After Hours, As It Ought to Be Magazine, Mobius: The Poetry Magazine, The Avocet, Blue Heron Review, Mused: BellaOnline Literary Review, Goose River Anthology, Fox Cry Review, Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, World Haiku Review, and forthcoming in Amethyst Review.
such beauty stems from horses and how we treat them says much of a community.
ReplyDeletewe need more horse poems in my opinion. not even sure if this place has published one before nor not. but the grace and beauty is admirable --for the poem too.
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