Rocking Horse Dreams

rocking horse dreams make the woman a girl again
in a half conscious time after rousing from sleep
companions through all the days since she was a child
wanting the grey with white spots a long golden fringe
and a faraway look in it’s eyes

she was only a rider every once in a very long while
but she rode him bareback and he took her away
their manes sailing parallel to the pastures
with nothing to stand in the way of a girl and her steed
just rocking and riding for miles

there’s no horse and no rider now and no place to tether
dreams long displaced by executive routines
that leave nowhere to turn to escape from every day reasons
for holding together in button-down sleeves and the suit
with a badge and false shine

come visit tonight to rock her away from here
before desperation leaves a hole in her mind
she needs one more long ride ahead of the summer breeze
with her mane parallel to the pasture
on the back of a grey-spotted rocking horse dream

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© Frank Prem, 2000

17/01/18