Fifteen hands
Stacked side by side
Steadily climb
Toward the sky
They stop
At the apex
Of his withers
For shoulders stay
Roughly the same height
Backcountry ruler
Room for interpretation
Head is a foil
Shifting with the wind
Towards green grass
And unknown sounds
Velvet ears twitch
Shaping his thoughts
How he feels
Whole conversations
Occur in silence
The only time I don’t feel
Like I need to talk
All things are said
Between muscle and breath
At seven years old
I learned how to
Pick up his foot
Sleek ankles slid
Into rough feathers
Hooves are not smooth
Keratin terrain possesses
Its own topographic range
The same way
Mountains slab in layers
The beautiful thing about horses
No rough touch
Is ever needed
This is where
I first learned
How to be gentle
Confident pressure
In the right spot
Elicits kinaesthetic flow
Through time immemorial
Courteous shifting of weight
Allowing my child self
To check his hooves
Simple metal hook
Tucked into my left pocket
Scraped the same pattern
For generations
A sacred ritual
In focused meditation
Equine greetings
Have elegant manners
you must bow or curtsy
Lowering your nose
Alongside theirs
Exhale as they inhale
Inhale as they exhale
You will know sunshine
Sweet hay
Cold waters
They will know
The inner workings
Of your heart
Now you may begin
About the Creator
Aspen Marie
In love with life and all of its foibles.
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Masterful proofreading
Zero grammar & spelling mistakes
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
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Violence Begets
"Any last words, cowboy?" "None you'd understand, sodbuster." "Funny. That's Marshall Sodbuster to you. But I meant some last nugget that would help us in the adjudication of the myriad offenses counted against you and your gang. I wasn't asking for penitence."
By Adam Diehl4 days ago in Fiction
Comments (17)
Truly captures those quiet moments with a horse.
Congrats on your Top Story and Leaderboard placement! 🎉
Really love this piece. Congrats on Top Story and Leaderboard!
Wooohooooo congratulations on your Leaderboard placement! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Congratulations on the leaderboard!!🤗
love this....well done!
I feel honoured to have been allowed to read this!
This made me miss my horse and those days. Excellent work. You put us there in the zen with the horse and the kindness of helping their hooves.
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
This is stunning — quiet, reverent, and full of unspoken understanding. You made me feel the bond, the breath, the ritual. Thank you for this calm moment.
amazing poem
A beautiful nod to horses with so much more meaning within the layers. Congratulations on your top story. I think your poem is breathtaking! 🌹🌹🌹
Again a wonderful format, wonderful words , beautifully descriptive and love the picture too
This is beautiful, I really felt the love for your horse.
I felt that connectedness that you have between you and horse here. Actually, felt quite envious.
Another sweet poem, Marie!! Living for these, haha. 💛 Did your family own a stable where you grew up? It's so cool you got to work with horses. Also, had to look up what Eoh meant. It means horse... who would have known 😂
I learned a new word from you today, equine! Loved your poem!