Raised allergic to joy, sired
to flaunt a full bard—bard as in
armor, not poet or singer. See how
outmoded; even the terms must be
explained. You’re long past coltish
frisk. Trained, shaffroned & weighted
down, but brilliant with gleam
over muscle, the metallic musk of
victory after victory, who expected
the inevitable, lurking? You’ve bashed
free your neck, awakened now to breeze
& sun & biting flies. Something rubs
under those flanchards—grass seed
maybe, a clod, a burr—the chance
to excel, again, at ignoring & focus,
focus, forget the metal preventing
breeding. Buck your night. Unrivet.
Outside the arena: the plow,
the whip, the wagon, the cowboy;
but also: the gamboling. A far
stretch of greenway. Go ahead,
gamble.
Note: See the “The Renaissance and Early Modern Period” section in the link for information on a “full bard” of horse armor. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hors/hd_hors.htm
Dear Poet
When I say I enjoyed your talk, I want
to reinvent enjoy—separate the word
from roasted corn on the cob, slipping
on clothes straight from the dryer, the whiff
of lemon oil on my wrist. Necessary
bitty happinesses for survival—akin
to dancing with my sister, adorning
chores with bop and sass. Yes
please, pleasure, but when I enjoy
your poems I’m talking catalyst, vinegar
rubbed into the glass mark on your fine
wood, or vinegar mixed with baking
soda. No, more than fix, more
than fizz, I’m talking your words:
that missing wing nut, a found cog but
for a different whirl than I’d imagined,
so now: tangent or trajectory? I know how
to be appropriate, so when I say I enjoyed
your talk, you hear the banked coals, black
holes and orchids, and say, that’s how
it was for me, too, writing
this talk, these poems. Thank you.
Photo by Daniel Bonilla on Unsplash.
Heather Jessen
Heather Jessen, a finalist for poetry contests at Ruminate, Atlanta Review, and Quagmire, has poems appearing or forthcoming in Poetry South, Connecticut River Review, Pinhole Poetry, and Pangyrus. After living in Australia and near both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, she currently resides in Connecticut. Find her on X and Instagram.