Horses Poem by Paul Reed

Breath, blown hot into the chill air
From a heaving ribcage under straining girth
Steam rising in curtains over sweat-stained backs
The heat of the skin despite cold earth;

The heightened rush, tautened sinews,
The headlong dash, the shouts and the din
‘Come on, today is the day'
The surging, the wanting to win;

The ruined dreams, the missed chances
The abrupt crash and the fall
The getting up and starting again
The impossible glory of it all;

Towering above all these peaks
Running through the veins on it's course
The nearness to the blood and the tears
The chance to stand next to a horse.