Some days are strewn
with oughts
and pending obligations;
others with
ought-to-have—
ought-not-to-have
must-do
have-to
need-to
better-not
maybe
maybe-not.
Then on quieter days it's
what-if
why-not
if-only
what-might-have-been.
forget-me-not
has seen better days,
then again—
perhaps,
perchance
oughts
have become
noughts
or neighs
time's up—
just do it—
let's dance!
Sometimes it shrieks, hoots or creaks,
whistles, cries, trills or squeaks,
rattles, russles gurgles or moans,
babbles, crackles, grunts or groans.
Sometimes it chatters, chirps or howls,
baas, ribbits, hisses, roars or growls,
cackles, coos, squawks or crows,
chitters, bleats, clucks or bellows.
Sometimes it, barks, buzzes or caws,
clicks, gobbles, gurbles or heehaws,
moos, humms, oinks, meows or neighs,
peeps, purrs, quacks, snuffles or brays
the silence of nature is a never-ending song,
forget your troubles and come sings along.
Placed at the foot of the mountain
Thunderclaps and lightnings
Treasures buried in the zenith
A journey no man doth dare
One foot forwards, three feet back
Raging winds and biting frost
Coated in the smut of the snowy beasts
Bathed in the blood of conquests lost
Still he places each step forward
Relentless. Tenacious. Dexterous
Foot planted like the oak tree
Majestic in the dust of the enemy
With each step, he moves forward
Balls like steel, he refuses to yield
Drained of the blood of his humanity
Filled instead, with the guts of a billion men.
Still he moves. Each step forward.
Thunders like the neighs of a million horses
Cut with the edges of jagged winds
Covered in an avalanche of ice.
Yet he moves. Courageously.
Crawling like the desperate viper
Each step now like a plea to the heavens
Groans like a woman in labour
But he moves nevertheless
A shock to the distant stars
Making the sun shine in cheer
And the sky to dance in tears
Till he reaches the top.
One hand placed on the treasure.
A man, unknown, reaches the zenith.
Relentless. Tenacious. Victorious.
Harry Finnegan loved his horse,
Not in the carnal sense of course,
Just as a valued animal friend
Loyal and faithful to the end.
You’d see them every day up town
On Harry’s milk and yoghurt round
Bringing foods of taste and class
To places others dare not pass.
There wasn’t a place – high or low
That Harry and horse would not go.
Harry didn’t know the truth of course,
His nag was a police undercover horse,
Digi cameras in each front hoof
And in his mane to film the roof,
A mobile phone to fit beneath
Both of his two large front teeth,
A special code of whinnies and neighs
To direct the force all the way
To the scene of a spotted crime
Helping them arrive in time.
Local villains trembled in despair
Wondering how the police got there.
Watch this space some other night
More revelations if the time is right
But nobody twigged how crime went down
On Harry Finnegan’s Yoghurt round.
And Harry Finnegan loved his horse
But not in the carnal sense of course.
My husband has a running joke
About his perfect gift
And since his birthday’s here, I thought
That he could use a lift.
A horse is what he claims to want
And we all play along,
For living in Manhattan, well,
A horse does not belong.
And then I had a great idea
And Amazon came through -
A hobby horse that neighs
And makes some clip clop noises, too.
My son put in the order
And he wrapped it up real sweet.
To see my husband ride it
Was a laugh-inducing treat.
Be careful what you wish for
Since there may just be a gap
Between fantasy and truth, but either way,
Let’s giddy-yap!
(Note - Poetry Soup did not let me put
an apostrophe in Husband’s in the title!
As a former English teacher, I say Grrrrr!)
Aunt Gertie changed her home to unicorn land
The day our uncle ran off with a mariachi band
Unicorn paintings peer at you from every wall
A unicorn neighs when you use her bathroom stall
Is she a bit looney? My friend Dee asked one day.
Well what do you mean? I replied. In what way?
Dee then saw my kitchen, made up in giraffe.
Never mind, she said, with a snort and a laugh.
Written by Gail R DeBole
on July 19, 2021
Updated September 4, 2021
A baby who lived on a farm
Would coo and gurgle with charm.
She completely amazed
Her family each day
With all of her sweet, lovely sounds.
She would hear chickens, cows, and sheep
As she fell into a very sound sleep.
Then she would awake
To the noise roosters make
And would listen to chicks as they peeped.
She heard many oinks, moos, and neighs.
The animals talked lots each day.
Chickens cluck-cluck-clucked.
She heard quacks from each duck.
The animal sounds never waned.
When she made her talking debut.
Her parents didn’t know what to do.
You might think it absurd
As to what her parents heard -
She sang out a melodious moo!
Next was a loud cluck-cluck-cluck!
Then she skillfully quaked like a duck!
She then gave a neigh
As she giggled and played.
Her parents were completely awe-struck.
She saved her best vocals for last.
Giving her parents a proud vocal blast.
She called her father “Papa”
And her mother “Mama”
And that was her first baby rap.
It was a secret mission
A vote was cast to make the decision
More yeas then neighs
Powers that be did say
To keep it under the radar
No talking at the bar
Without discussion
Quiet no cussing
Betting on trusting
It would be for the best
Getting the enemy to confess
Using a spy
Or a drone that can fly
To unearth a deadly lie
Is this a cool thing?
Or a planned daring fling
Done behind closed doors
Silence on the masses’ floor
If done with success
Leaders will address
Saying ‘we are impressed’
But if it fails
Someone gets nailed
There is a bust
Bodies are turned to ashes and dust
Sparking an honest integrity debate
Are these morals great?
Securing nation’s freedoms when at stake
There are other ways to get international relations done
Some are actually fun
Interacting with global others
Respecting daughters and brothers
Shaking a hand
A worthy command
To bring peace
And allow one’s body to decide when to be deceased
A lion roars, a mule brays
A lamb frolics, a horse neighs
A dog barks, a wolf howls
A snake hisses, a bear growls
A calf bleats, a rooster crows
A moose bellows, an ox lows
A turkey gobbles, a cow moos
A mosquito buzzes, a pigeon coos
A cat meows, a nightingale sings
An alarm clock rings ~ Dawn takes wing
reality of a high horse
unreal, nevertheless
satisfying as it’s unnerving neighs.
nerve endings gallop
7/14/2018
His mane is long and he is very proud
He neighs and roars and laughs so very loud
Always blissfully joyful as could be
Many funny stories he shares with me
My dear horse loves day and night to prance
Forever asks me won’t you learn to dance
Whenever he decides to come to life
That’s when he asks me to become his wife
I stop I look I laugh and laugh some more
I know we would be happy to the core
Under the setting sun just him and me
But you should know that I am only three
AP: Honorable Mention 2022, Honorable Mention 2022, Honorable Mention 2021, 2nd place 2021, Honorable Mention 2020, Honorable Mention 2020
Submitted on March 11, 2020 for contest SOME PARADISE WHERE HORSES GO sponsored by MICHELLE FAULKNER - HONORABLE MENTION
I rode to power on a Midwest horse,
Bearing amongst the feathers in my cap this terse brief
from my broken people:
To lay waste to the irksome order
That home and abroad now prevails.
Strained voices break out in the valley below
And many more in the world across the seas
Bidding me to dismount at once
And move to saddle the global kingdom
Of Reagan, Roosevelt, Clinton, ...
That now is mine to ride.
Yet this very kingdom I came to crush;
My Midwest horse, I wouldn't trade for it!
In her neighs, I hear a nay
Forbidding me to consider the bargain.
Her counsel I think I'll heed
For between the two, she's the easier to ride.
A horse that trots on cheap lies
Or a kingdom that floats on costly allies--
That's the question I now confront.
Who am I?
A fur blown away by the wind,
A small nerve detached from a great mind,
A small cheer suppressed by restless sighs,
A little chirp disappeared between big neighs.
Who am I?
A silence disturbed by the chaos,
A small nail in this big house,
A whisper lost among the screams,
A small desire beside big dreams.
Who am I?
An innocent knight in this blood shed,
A little crimson in the dark red,
A sand castle destroyed by the sea,
A refugee about to flee.
Who am I?
An unnamed letter by a passenger,
Being uselessly protected by these rangers,
I would wait till I freeze................
And now I'm a life gone away with the breeze.......
Now I understand what I was,
A mere life born for no great cause.
A horse that runs wild and free
Enjoys freedom with each stride
No saddle on his withers be
No grazing muzzle as a guide
No headpiece on his poll abides
His fetlock and his coronet feel the tickle of the grass
As his forelock ruffles in the breeze
No horseshoe on his hoof amass
With the wind he trots with ease
His gaskin flexes to run at his decree
His frog feels the soft earth as he stands
his coat feels the soothing rain
Unbridled by the bit's demand
His neighs echo through the plains
Upon these green fields, he reigns
His stifle and his hock aches once in awhile
But a good gallop 'neath the dome
of sky, brings him back in form and style
No crupper on his croup as he roams
For this horse calls freedom home.
~~~
10/4/16
*The crupper is the strap that runs from the horse's dock, over the croup, to the saddle.
Captain Cook he had a chook
But eggs it wouldn't lay,
So he ate the chook and now he's crook,
He cockle-doodle-doos all day.
Captain Cook he had a horse
But the horse it wouldn't run,
So he ate the horse as a main course,
Now he neighs in the noon day sun.
Captain Cook he had a cat
But the cat it wouldn't meow,
So he ate the cat, now he's so fat,
His belly-button just went pow!
-more poems like this can be found at:
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