Let The Horses Die

I let a horse die today.
He wasn’t the only one.
I close my eyes, and I can see.
The hot, cramped pens,
Bodies crushed together,
Bodies worth less than a can of dog food.

 

I can hear the helpless whinnies,
As they echo against the steel ceiling.
And I know he’s there,
Waiting for us,
But we won’t come.

 

He’s wondering why he’s there now.
Why his soft bedding and food are gone.
Why the children he made happy,
Didn’t love him, didn’t come.

He’s swallowing dust for air now,
As he is slammed against the wall.
But he still hangs on after all these years,
Of fierce hits and violent tongues.

 

What did I give him in return?
Nothing that I promised.
I was working far too slowly,
To find him a place called home,
But he was shipped away in twilight,
Far away, to parts unknown.

 

But I was just too lazy,
To have someone save him.
I needed just one person,
And he could be alive.
But now, he stands there waiting.
And I would find him, if I could.

 

To order a copy of the Let The Horses Die poetry collection, please visit

 

Copyright 2006

Reviews

[Ailyn]

Such a tragic story. My best friend rides horses so this poem would tug at her heartstrings. You handle the topic beautifully. It's a difficult subject to handle gracefully, as all deaths tend to be, but you do so quite well. I like that at the end you sort of return to the beginning only now the reader understands what you meant in the beginning. Well done!

[Deborah Leah Krempa]

Heartwrenchingly sad poem.