That night
when Sharon hacked her hunter down
so Kaz could teach Pete how to rise to the trot
said Just like shagging against a wall
when Old Mac boasted You never forget
jumped on poor Lennie’s new Yamaha
and smashed up the outside lav
when we wound Dave up it was fancy dress
and he came as a tart all the way on the bus
when Garvey actually bought a round
and all of us asked for shorts
when Suzie danced on the table
and didn’t fall off
when Mick hollered out to come outside
because of the evening star
hung like a lamp in the turquoise sky
and the air was warm past ten o’clock
so we all sat drinking thigh by thigh
watching the dark slide over the fields
that night when we were all loved up
played Mustang Sally eleven times
everyone everyone everyone danced
then Sharon led her hunter home
because she couldn’t get on his back
and somebody nicked the fag machine
That night was a prize-winning runner-up for the Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2012
Shooting horses
The vet with whom I
laugh and swap stories
over tea in the tack room
leaves solemnly this time
touches my arm
rubs my back
The arrangements are made
phone calls fix a day
when the yard kids are at school
I’ve turned the horse out early
in the rising sun
brought him in for
nuts and carrot
cow parsley and mint
the best hay from the top field
I wait to open the gate
for the man with the gun
A good man
always on time
used to this
The ramp is down
my fingers tremble
with the collar
my body leans in
familiar love
There is the man
with the gun in his hand
held slightly behind
A good man
unhurried and fast
But not even when the shot
thuds through the air
do I know
Only when the horse falls
collapses complete on the earth
something else now
something I can’t touch
do I know what I have done
It was the same
when I saw you in that box
I went down on my knees
like a stricken old horse
We had made the phone calls
fixed the date
bought the flowers
chosen hymns
When I saw you in that box
where was the man with the gun
who could have quietly
sent a bullet through my head
and taken me away?
Shooting Horses was in the final judging list (150 from 13,401 entries) National Poetry Competition 2013.
That night
when Sharon hacked her hunter down
so Kaz could teach Pete how to rise to the trot
said Just like shagging against a wall
when Old Mac boasted You never forget
jumped on poor Lennie’s new Yamaha
and smashed up the outside lav
when we wound Dave up it was fancy dress
and he came as a tart all the way on the bus
when Garvey actually bought a round
and all of us asked for shorts
when Suzie danced on the table
and didn’t fall off
when Mick hollered out to come outside
because of the evening star
hung like a lamp in the turquoise sky
and the air was warm past ten o’clock
so we all sat drinking thigh by thigh
watching the dark slide over the fields
that night when we were all loved up
played Mustang Sally eleven times
everyone everyone everyone danced
then Sharon led her hunter home
because she couldn’t get on his back
and somebody nicked the fag machine
That night was a prize-winning runner-up for the Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2012