Comfort

I shiver in the empty white
field, watch as snowflakes melt on
my lashes, nibble frozen
stalks of grass, icy glass
against my chattering teeth.
They fall heavy in my hollow gut.
The sun’s long up,
milky drops through bulky clouds.

Crows throw stark shadows
in lacy branches that move with the hours until
the gate opens. Comfort arrives
with a sack of hay, pockets
of sugar lumps and windfall apples.
I wait a little longer to bestow
my whiskery muzzle
in a hopeful nuzzle.

Kim M. Russell, 2017

Image result for paintings of a horse in a snowy field
Image found on Pinterest

I’m hosting Tuesday Poetics over at the dVerse Poets Pub and today we’re talking animals. The prompt is based on a poem I found a poem by Delmore Schwartz, entitled ‘The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me’. What I love about this poem is the man-ness of the bear and the bear-ness of the man; the way the poem lumbers; and the acceptance of the fact that humans have bodily needs. It is a debate of our dual nature, which is why I have challenged the dVerse poets to write a poem, of any length or form, about an animal in a human way or a human in an animal way, highlighting some trait of the animal/human that either sets us apart or brings us together.

49 thoughts on “Comfort”

  2. Hi Kim! Beautiful poem! You mentioned working with dVerse and yesterday they posted a challenge to write a Quadrille? I have never used this form and tried to find out the rules for writing this form but could find nothing. Do you know how to write one, if so, could you let me know? Thanks, Deborah

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    2. A quadrille is a poem of exactly 44 words excluding the title using the prompted word which yesterday was “rock”…it can be in any form as long as it is 44 words and includes the word “rock”. It is a form unique to dVerse. Hope this helps.

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  13. Equis reigns, and your poem hits all the right notes to illustrate your prompt. I think domestic horses do not grow longer fur because they have shelter & care. At first I thought the animal might be bovine, but horses are more fun; better totem spirits too.

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    1. Thank you, Sarah. While I was ill, my little cat, Mojo, was like a furry nurse, always at y side. While I was in hospital, she sat on the footstool in front of the armchair where I usually sit and waited for me to come home. She is constantly by my side!

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  18. Picturing the horse see the branches moving with the hours is a sad image. Maybe because the prompt was about the connection between humans and animals and because you described the cold so bitingly, but I could not help but think of being left out in the frozen winter, helpless to help myself, depending only on the charity of others.

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  23. I love your poem. A little skiddish myself of horses, they are a strong, amazing animal. They seem to wait patiently in every type of season. I recall Jo March in Little Women saying, “I wish I were a horse!’ I hope you are feeling better and have a wonderful Christmas!

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