ManicDDaily

Dream Horse 

You wake to tell me of a dream
in which the horse we are currently taking care of
is the horse you had as a child. 

In your dream, he was over sixty years old
(far beyond the age of horses), but remembered you,
whickering at your hip pocket for the apple
you sometimes stuffed there,
as a child. 

You did not have an apple, so bent down to pull up grass,
proffering the spring green strands
in a flattened hand as if they were something
he could not himself pull from of the ground
and his horse lips rumpled softly, gratefully
in your palm.

I listen in the pre-dawn gloom, wondering
whether, if I dreamt at all, I could summon people
from my childhood, and if I could meet them
in some bright field, only it would be
my childhood kitchen, and it would be
my father, and he would be feeding me—what?
Breakfast cereal—Special K—
which he would pour out with a grin, saying,
“say when.”

I too would smile then
over the white bowl,
only I’m not sure I could say “when”
in a dream like that.  

I think to tell you about it,
you, the man actually
beside me, but you seem to be sleeping again.
Though later, as I tiptoe about the room,
you whisper, “hello Sweetie,”
here, now,
another gift.

******************************************

Another draft poem!  This one for May 1. The pic above doesn’t really fit, but is an illustration (with the text omitted) from my children’s alphabet book, ABC MOBILE, this one for the letter H. 

Have a good day! 

This entry was posted on May 1, 2022 at 6:22 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Karin Gustafson poetry