This poem was written by our good friend Lisa Ortiz while sitting in an airport in April 2007. She had just met Hank and I’d like to think that he was the inspiration. It’s a poem that touches me very deeply. I hope you will like it.
Horse
The way the heart is wrapped in blankets
and the world fell; Eden’s long gone
the remnant a weedy lawn at our ankles,
a gown we’ve removed in tatters,
a dream we decide
until a horse appears
not far away in a field
not faded or rusted or ancient.
This horse was coddled in stalls, kept from the eyes of mortals
hidden really like a God,
something they say can’t exist
glitter and prance, muscled with silk
legs in waves, winged hooves, exalted bones,
prairie lightning eyes, and they call that
a star or a blaze.
Oh, reach in your pocket for sugar an apple, a handful of oats,
Open your palm
and all that you’ve held,
the way you’ve asked for forgiveness
turns out redemption is this:
an animal neck that arches
untamed breath on your wrist.