Suppose Horses

A poem for America

Feb 07, 2025

∙ Paid

The author and his older brother David at a farm just outside Iowa City, Iowa (1991).

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

Suppose Horses

suppose hector had been spared 
not dragged around troy everything 

exposed to the sky to the people
suppose his lungs never filled 

with blood his hair never cut 
for war suppose he’d never put

his helmet on his son’s head
never cursed his brother never 

had to understand frailty as only
a warrior can suppose horses 

never needed to be broken

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