I am sure footed every time
never fallen in all my born days
times I go outside and look up
then I think and sing to the stars
as I smirk, then I go back inside
there was a girl, all dolled up
gave me a wink, and I thought to wink
then we parted ways, I moseyed on
and again she saw me and leaned
towards me and gave me a hug
I knew not what to do, till she said
"Giddy up little horsey", and we did
I never had a rocking-horse
Having read books of rich boys having one, I wanted one too.
I found the tail of a rocking horse, at home, I fastened the tail on the gate into the yard.
I sat on the gate swinging through and thro and for a moment
I was Hopalong Cassidy till the hinges broke and I fell off.
There was no witness to my ignominy.
I removed the tail, the gate had nothing to do with me.
The owner of the property swore said it was the work
of hooligans.
Years later, mother found the tail behind the wardrobe
by then I was nearly an adult and didn´t bother about childish things
The Rocking Horse Cowboy
I’m king of the rocking horse--cowboys
I yea ha along with the best
Me finger and thumb
I use as a gun
And ride the top horse in the west
I ride the top horse in the west
He’s sturdy and ready to please
It’s no big deal
When he shares my meal
I feed him fish-fingers and peas
I feed him fish-fingers and peas
Then he’s ready to canter and go
He really flies
When chasing bad guys
And always we catch them, you know
Always we catch them, you know
Those bad guys who pinch all my toys
We never fail
To throw them in jail
I’m king of the rocking horse--cowboys
A rocking horse is a child's toy, usually shaped like a horse and mounted on rockers similar to a rocking chair. Predecessors of the rocking horse may be seen in the rocking cradle, the tilting seats used during the Middle Ages for jousting practice as well as the wheeled hobby horse. The toy in its current form did not appear before the 17th century, though some conflicting sources note medieval manuscripts including references to carved rocking horses, presumably of the toy kind.
movement
swaying full hips
circle
circle
avoiding touch
heat stroke
stroke
long, deep, and hard
rhythmic
rhythmic
overflowing
waves rock
rocking
stallion ridden
sleep comes
coming
home lullaby
sweet sound
soundless
dawn breaks the night
cock crows
crows flock
in fertile fields
hybrid
high bred
the son is born
again
no one can really understand insanity
it sinks below depths of our humanity
something so small,
a grenade,
atomic mess,
bodies blown to bits
as the gas suffocated earth-
it's that clench,
that gasp-
that knot
you fear.
And it eats you alive the more you endure
such imaginative qualities,
and you sit there unknowingful
uninformed;
while envy develops;
you sat there admitting
in horribly brutal honesty-
but your eyes forgot the plan
cause the guilt shot through
and that look-
that look-
i've seen it before.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.