Europa Poets' Gazette No 73

Damp Grey
"Rag ’n bone",
Voice echoes
in the still, damp grey,
Pacifying melody
of hooves on tarred road,
Steady is the pace,
Snout in feed bag,
The old horse
never steps above a walk,
"Rag ’n bone",
This gravel voice moulded
out of grunt and grit,
pitted against chill air,
The cart creaking,
The old iron, outlived,
tossed up at the back,
A carrot for this eager friend,
The horse draws the crowd,
Not the man, gentle of rein,
Always the horse,
Steady and measured,
And willing, and living forever,
Clip-clop, clip-clop
on this hard road,
And excited children pleading,
"Can we give the ole man something?"
This old iron will do -
And a carrot, of course,
And those loving eyes,
And a pat, and a hug
until the next time.
Michael Garrad March 2010
Golden Goodbye
I watch the setting sun shimmer on the water -
Layers of molten gold, appliquéd on green velvet,
And I remember how you adored gold -
You were always swathed in it from head to toe.
Now, your dust scatters in the summer breeze,
Settling on the gold you loved so much.
© June Maureen Hitchcock