So often I feel like
a different animal than you.
So often a horse. Do you know
of horses and puddles?
Imagine them riding along the moors
or riding through the fields just after
a rain. A puddle could be anything to the horse:
an ocean twenty feet deep.
a step
shallow and safe.
Death.
They just never know.

It rained last night.
Not a mist you drink; it rained a whole song.
The horses whinnied from fear.

Have I told you, I mean
Have I at least whispered
That the chasm between This and That
Is a puddle to a horse?

Have I told you I haven't crossed yet?
I and the horse - then I as the horse.
Do you see? Do you see me on the other side?
Tell me, do you see?

11/01/2004

Author's Note: This poem was published in The Southern Ocean Review: http://www.arts.org.nz/sor33.htm

Posted on 11/01/2004
Copyright © 2024 Lisa Marie Brodsky