Horses

Horses have been grazing in that field
for as long as I can remember

It’s a roughly square basin of a field
bordered by a road on three sides

and on the southern side by the wall
of an old cemetery attached

to a Norman church : the burial ground
never seems to run out of space

with fresh graves dug every week
But the horses live in a different world

Sometimes they gather in the centre
of the pasture but on warm days

they seek out the shade of the oaks
that line the northern perimeter

and through gaps in the fence people
will stop to feed them carrots

which the horses chomp with
unaffected nonchalance

seven or eight horses that appear
never to change— and why should they ?

John Lyons