12/07/2023
I AM AN OLD WOMAN
Modified from a poem by Patty Barnhart
I am an old horsewoman
who does not wear turquoise and diamonds,
but I wear a straw hat that doesn’t suit me
and I spend my social security on
Feed and hay and w**e and gin.
I sit on the porch of my barn
and watch the horses out in the pasture,
grazing and running and dozing.
I used to sneak out in the middle of a summer night
and ride Jake, the old bay gelding,
walking across the moonstruck meadow…
if my old bones would allow.
When people come to call, I smile and nod and we chat.
I shovel and muck and sweat, bush hog, drag and fix fences
and wear hay in my hair as if it were a jewel.
I may be an embarrassment to ALL
who have not yet found the peace in being free
to have a horse as a great friend.
A friend who waited at midnight hour
with patient eyes for me to come.
For that is the kind of old woman I have become.
