A Horse-y Poetry Friday

wee me with a (wee) miniature horse
Cinnamon, and foal Sugar (behind)

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Rebecca at Sloth Reads for Roundup.

Around these parts, spring has quickly morphed into blazing summer. It's all good, though! We've enjoyed several sightings of your nearest neighbors -- a pair of bald eagles! I've been writing, of course... and working on last-call edits for two forthcoming picture books. (Click to see a sneak peek of those covers!) I've also been spending as much time with our son as possible -- he's a graduating high school senior, and the day after graduation he will leave to work as a camp counselor for the summer: 

BOOM! Empty nest! 

No, I am not ready. Super excited for him and all that awaits, but wow. This raising-kids thing went by terribly fast! Sigh. Good thing I've got books (and an awfully sweet husband) to keep me company. 

With that in mind, today I'd like to share a book I checked out from the library and then decided to purchase, because I love it so much: THE HORSE'S HAIKU by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by Stan Fellows, brought to us by Candlewick Press.

I love horses. I love books about horses. And this one is certainly a celebration of our equine friends. So many of my most favorite moments of horse-watching are recorded here:

one foal nods, slicing

the fog shared breaths - the mare

nods in agreement

I have LOVED watching horses speak to one another on cold fog-breathy mornings! It feels so intimate, so reverential.

And how 'bout this one, about the magic of a horse emerging from a dust roll:

wriggling in the dirt,

dust clouds of kicking hooves, then --

poof! -- horse standing there

There are haiku about shadows and hoofprints and that lip-flutter way horses take a treat from your palm. About water dribbling from the horse's mouth and those pesky horseflies.

One of my favorite spreads is about the horse's eye:

art by Stan Fellows

Even horse-chores are made beautiful, as in this one about cleaning a horse's hooves:

front leg half-folded

horse's hoof rests in your palm

weightless as prayer

And what about that moment during a gallop (or jump) when all for hooves are in the air at once?

time, too, must stretch as

rear hooves launch from earth.. and then

front hooves ground again

The final one I'd like to share is about that relationship between horse and rider:

right food slid in place,

heels pressed down in both stirrups-

trust is your seat belt

This is the perfect book for that horse-loving person in your life. I've actually written quite a lot of poems about horses and horse-love, so I thought I'd use this opportunity to share a couple with you today:

first, one from childhood:

Man O'War

See his action, see him run

Such a beauty when he's won

Whipping mane, flowing tail

His coat like a rusty nail

Winning by one hundred lengths

Everyone knows he has no kinks

Such a wonderful horse was he

There really was no race to see

Twenty races out of twenty-one

What a sight to see him run!

- Irene Dykes (long before I was Latham)

Next, an unpublished poem (pic is from a trip to Chincoteague Island, which you can read about here)

Anatomy of a Horse

mane for braiding

hooves for painting

whisker-tipped lips

for teasing carrots

from your fingertips

tail for swishing

nose for nuzzling

weather-vane ears

for broadcasting

each mood and feeling

eyes for admiring

neck for hugging

basketball-sized heart

for a long life

of loving you

- Irene Latham

There's also a "horse" poem in CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?

Horseback Riding

I don't know how to explain

to Charles how I feel about horses

when he shuffles so fast

from one subject to the next.

Finally I blurt, sometimes I just need

a break from people.

He surprises me and shuts up right away,

so I tell him about the sweet scent

of hay and saddle soap,

how my stomach somersaults

when Honey surges from trot to canter,

and how the wind parts my hair

when I lean into her neck

whispering, faster, faster.

When I want Honey to slow down,

all I have to do

is give the reins a gentle tug,

and soon we are back to clop-clopping.

Honey and I understand each other

without any words at all.

- Irene Latham

Have YOU written a horse poem? If so, I'd love to read it!