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
johnjosephlyons 