Johnsons
there was supposed to be a mule
to preside in the forward stall
beams hung with brass and leather, dusty ribbons
that silence in which animals move, that power
and I am a child
the cows stay as they are useful
the horse leaves his great collar behind
as he goes to slaughter
I have forgotten his name
the dappled white horse in the orchard
Pediatrician Kelley White worked in inner city Philadelphia and now works in rural New Hampshire. Her poems have appeared in journals including Exquisite Corpse, Rattle and JAMA. Her most recent books are Toxic Environment (Boston Poet Press) and Two Birds in Flame (Beech River Books.) She received a 2008 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant.