Staring Down the Gift Horse
Hybrid poem
When viewing The Virgin Spring
morphs into Virgin River
you have lost your head
being voluntarily led while jotting down the pleasures
of ordinary comforts in your gratitude journal
before sinking into another restless sleep
knowing you never did lay
down the day and soon you’ll be dead
though that may have happened already
cos regret happens in real-time unfolding in slo-mo like Muybridge’s horse in Stop. Action. Motion and one morning you wake to the tinge of sepia on the tongue and swallow another dose of next time…
next time — you think — you might wake to the knowing that everyday offers a choice and then clip the reigns that mount your absent-minded rider who fumbles and falls to the ground as you take off at a speed that cannot be caught in picture frames or tamed by the milieu of mediocracy
you then breathe in this next breath whilst staring down the gift horse’s mouth — unapologetically
Breathe & Be Still ©2023
*The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman’s 1960 film)
*Virgin River (an American romantic drama series, 2019-present)
*Eadward Muybridge (English photographer, 1830–1904, credited for the image above and known for his photographic studies of motion)
*”Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth” (proverb)
I have not written much of anything for months due to the lack of time to cultivate the creative space and distractions that have clouded my mind. For this one, I sourced inspiration from two poems. As per usual, thanks to J.D. Harms for keeping the gears going and thanks to Claire Kelly whose poetry I have only recently had the pleasure of knowing.
