Horses in the desert
Out of the desert
I saw them come thundering by
wild, unconfined horses
with hooves glittering in the sun,
bodies muscled as if created
by a god,
heads held high
as if watching the sky,
manes unkempt, but swept back
and lifted swishing streaming tails
by the speed of their run.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
San Simeon Hill Zebras
Drifters, if they could be.
Sometimes, when they think
no one is watching,
they near the barbed wire.
Hooves and hooves and hooves.
A silent choir, a mass
of muscle-held cellmates.
Their heads are full of high grass
and long shadows. They dream
of lowland lions grifting gazelle.
Behold the moiré bolting
of the chain-gang jumpsuits
—dust and dust and dust—
safe in their target-striped caps!
White Horses
We stare at the rocks and shoreline
As if time itself has fled,
For the sea once lapped at our laughter
When he would go on, ahead;
But the seasons change in the counting
And the laughter fades from the eye,
He went ahead at the parting
Caught up in his own bleak tide.
Your hair turned white in the mourning
Your songs all died in your throat,
Your eyes turned wild, and haunting
As I looked for some antidote;
But age crept up and caught you
In a season of sad neglect,
We sit at the shore in silence
And think of some deep regret.
For the waves roll in like thunder
And the foam now caps the crest
And your wild, white hair blows ever
And your eyes are dim, distressed;
I hold your hand in silence
In hopes that you’ll speak of him,
But you take a breath, and mutter
“White horses are coming in! ”
And over the heads of breakers
Where the foam breaks loose at the rip
I fancy the manes of horses
Are tossed at the breaker’s tip;
And shoulders pound at the rollers
While hooves flash white in the tide
And your dim grey eyes reflect them,
As you cry at their foam-flecked ride.
White horses, caught at the breakers
With manes of wild, white hair
They run at the shallow waters
In the hopes that he’ll be there,
Their eyes are dim at the mourning
As the rollers set them free,
You smile at the heads a-tossing:
“White horses – coming for me.”
28 November 1994
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Horses
Those lumbering horses in the steady plough,
On the bare field - I wonder, why, just now,
They seemed terrible, so wild and strange,
Like magic power on the stony grange.
Perhaps some childish hour has come again,
When I watched fearful, through the blackening rain,
Their hooves like pistons in an ancient mill
Move up and down, yet seem as standing still.
Their conquering hooves which trod the stubble down
Were ritual that turned the field to brown,
And their great hulks were seraphims of gold,
Or mute ecstatic monsters on the mould.
And oh the rapture, when, one furrow done,
They marched broad-breasted to the sinking sun!
The light flowed off their bossy sides in flakes;
The furrows rolled behind like struggling snakes.
But when at dusk with steaming nostrils home
They came, they seemed gigantic in the gloam,
And warm and glowing with mysterious fire
That lit their smouldering bodies in the mire.
Their eyes as brilliant and as wide as night
Gleamed with a cruel apocalyptic light,
Their manes the leaping ire of the wind
Lifted with rage invisible and blind.
Ah, now it fades! It fades! And I must pine
Again for the dread country crystalline,
Where the blank field and the still-standing tree
Were bright and fearful presences to me.
poem by Edwin Muir
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The Horses of Achilles
When they saw Patroklos dead
—so brave and strong, so young—
the horses of Achilles began to weep;
their immortal nature was upset deeply
by this work of death they had to look at.
They reared their heads, tossed their long manes,
beat the ground with their hooves, and mourned
Patroklos, seeing him lifeless, destroyed,
now mere flesh only, his spirit gone,
defenseless, without breath,
turned back from life to the great Nothingness.
Zeus saw the tears of those immortal horses and felt sorry.
"At the wedding of Peleus," he said,
"I should not have acted so thoughtlessly.
Better if we hadn't given you as a gift,
my unhappy horses. What business did you have down there,
among pathetic human beings, the toys of fate.
You are free of death, you will not get old,
yet ephemeral disasters torment you.
Men have caught you up in their misery."
But it was for the eternal disaster of death
that those two gallant horses shed their tears.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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Bullroarer
In the desert in the dry
Before the breaking of the rain
The temperature in the shade
Had reached a hundred and ten again
In the desert in the dry
On the overland telegraph line
Dont take the law into your own hands
Dont go looking for a fight
Ive heard the bullroarers
In the desert in the dry
Sun sits so high
Long days mile and the
Radio crackles and the bones bleached white
Its a knock-em-down storm
See the tin roof shake
Wild dog howls and the long grass
Whistles and the tall trees break
Ive seen the wild horses
Ive heard the bullroarers
Ive seen the wild horses
Shifting sands and broken plans
Lead me on to my homeland
song performed by by Midnight Oil
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Mustangs Are Born Free (Monchielle)
Let wild horses run free
In mountains let them be
Release them let them go
Stop killing these horses
They are so scared you know
Let wild horses run free
Don't divide mom from baby
Wild horses to be free
Let them run in mountain
Don't take freedom away
Let wild horses run free
Let's join voices help horses
Take them where they belong
They truly need our help
Selling these horses wrong
Let wild horses run free
Since small I love horses
I grew up watch them grow
Mustangs are beautiful
They're unique smart you know.
September 24,2009
poem by Dorian Petersen Potter
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Wild Horses
Childhood living
It's easy to do
The things you wanted
I bought them for you
Graceless lady
You know who I am
You know I can't let you
Slide through my hand
Wild horses
Couldn't drag me away
Wild horses
Couldn't drag me away
I watched you suffer
A dull aching pain
Now you're decided
To treat me the same
No sweeping exits
Or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter
Or treat you unkind
Wild horses
Couldn't drag me away
Wild wild horses
Couldn't drag me away
I have my freedom
But I dont have much time
So let's do some living
After we die
Wild horses
Couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses
Couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses
Couldn't drag me away
Wild horses
We want them someday
song performed by by Garbage
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Wild Horses
As the sun goes down on the arizona plain
And the wind whistles by like a runaway train
Hey hey hey its a beautiful thing
Well its me and you and a flatbed truck
My heart kicking over like a whitetail buck
Hey hey hey in the middle of spring
You can cut me deep
You can cut me down
You can cut me loose
Dont you know its okay
You can kick and scream
You can slap my face
You can set my wheels on a high speed chase
Hey no matter what you do
Wild horses could not drag me away from you
Wild horses could not drag me away from you
As the sky falls down from the midnight blue
Spittin like bullets on a hot tin roof
Hey hey hey its a beautiful sound
Well its me and you in a flatbed truck
In a foot of mud just my luck
Hey hey hey a hundred miles out of town
You can call me a fool
You can call me blind
You can call it quits
Cant hear a word you say
Cause if I had you once
Im gonna have you twice
Im gonna follow my heart instead of good advice
Hey no matter what you do
Wild horses could not drag me away from you
Wild horses could not drag me away from you
song performed by by Gino Vanelli
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Heads Carolina, Tails California
(tim nichols/mark d. sanders)
Baby, what do you say we just get lost?
Leave this one horse townlike two rebels without a cause.
I got people in boston.
Aint your daddy still in des moines?
We can pack up tomorrow.
Tonight, lets flip a coin
Heads, carolina tails, california.
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.
Where? it dont matter, as long as were goin
Somewhere together. Ive got a quarter.
Heads, carolina tails, california.
We can load what we own in the back of a u-haul van.
Couple modern day moses, searchin for the promised land.
We can go four hundred miles before we stop for gas.
We can drive for a day, and then well take a look at the map.
Heads, carolina tails, california.
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.
Where? it dont matter, as long as were goin
Somewhere together. Ive got a quarter.
Heads, carolina tails, california.
Were gonna get outta here if we gotta ride a greyhound bus.
Boy, were bound to outrun the bad luck thats tailin us
Heads, carolina tails, california.
Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.
Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.
Where? it dont matter, as long as were goin
Somewhere together. Ive got a quarter.
Heads, carolina tails, california.
O---oh, california! carolina! california!
song performed by by Jo Dee Messina
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Horses in the Snow
Their manes are a wintry white
Frosted with the glittering snow
There backs are dappled light
And shimmer with a frozen glow
Dark browns and golden tones
Contrast with the wonderland
From dark grays to deep roans
The muted colors of the land
Their manes and backs are white
Frosted with the falling snow
The horses dance through the light
Of the shining, shimmering snow
Horses In The Snow
Their manes are a wintry white
Frosted with the glittering snow
There backs are dappled light
And shimmer with a frozen glow
Dark browns and golden tones
Contrast with the wonderland
From dark grays to deep roans
The muted colors of the land
Their manes and backs are white
Frosted with the falling snow
The horses dance through the light
Of the shining, shimmering snow
poem by Horse Poet
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Wild Horses
Childhood living
Is easy to do
The things you wanted
Well I bought them for you
And graceless lady
You know who I am
You know I cant let you
Ah slide through my hands
Wild horses
Couldnt drag me away
Wild, wild horses
Couldnt drag me away
I watched you suffer
A dull aching pain
Now youve decided
To show me the same
No sweeping exits
Or offstage lines
Can make me feel bitter
Or treat you unkind
Wild horses
Couldnt drag me away
Wild, wild horses
Couldnt drag me away
I know I dreamed you
A sin and a lie
I have my freedom
But I dont have much time
Faith has been broken
Tears must be cried
Come on lets do some living
After we die
Wild horses
Couldnt drag me away
Wild, wild horses
Well ride them someday
song performed by by Indigo Girls
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Heads You Win, Tails I Lose
Every time
We have a fight
We flip a coin
To see whos right
Why do we have to gamble just to see whos right?
Why cant we arbitrarily resolve a fight?
But with youre style of gamblin theres no chance to win
Thats how it is, and thats the way its always been
Heads, you win
Tails, I lose
Heads, you win
Tails, I lose
Bad news
If we were playing cards youd be the one to deal
Youd play with loaded dice and fix the roulette wheel
You pick em at the races like Ive never seen
And then you make me pay off like a slot machine
Heads, you win
Tails, I lose
Heads, you win
Tails, I lose
Bad news
Oh well, match me honey (match me honey)
Take my money (take my money)
You know the odds are yours (flip it baby)
So flip the coin
Im gonna make some changes with this gamblin game
From now on Im the dealer and Ill do the same
Ill load my dice and stack the deck and fix the odds again
So if you want to flip to see whos right I know Ill win
Heads, I win
Tails, you lose
Heads, I win
Tails, you lose
Bad news
Oh well, match me honey (match me honey)
Take my money (take my money)
You know the odds are yours (flip it baby)
So flip the coin
Im gonna make some changes with this gamblin game
From now on Im the dealer and Ill do the same
Ill load my dice and stack the deck and fix the odds again
So if you want to flip to see whos right I know Ill win
Heads, I win
Tails, you lose
Heads, I win
Tails, you lose
Bad news
Heads, I win
Tails, you lose
Heads, I win
Tails, you lose
Bad news
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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High Horse
You had your chance to show affection
You had your chance to give me more
And now that shes found new direction
You make your way to my back door
What makes you think the whole world wants you
Give steel a kiss and it will bend
The flesh is weak and when its all been said and done
The spirits all thats left in the end
If you have to saddle your high horse
Go on and ride out of my sight
(ride out of my sight)
You never had the time of day for me you know
And now you want to spend the night
Youre big with the come-on like its no big deal
No big deal to you
You let the wild wind blow your course
(wild wind blow your course)
I do not want the dirt from your shoes
Or from the hooves of your high horse
The way I see it there are few things left
To hold on to and keep your head yeah
When its your sense of humor and integrity
Theres nothing funny about whats being said
There was a day when I would let myself be trampled
As long as it was done by you
(as long as it was done by you)
But I took so much abuse now Ive had ample
Theres no way that youll break through
If you have to saddle your high horse
Go on and ride out of my sight
(ride out of my sight)
You never had the time of day for me you know
And now you want to spend the night
Youre big with the come on like its no big deal
No big deal to you
You let the wild wind blow your course
(wild wind blow your course)
I do not want the dirt from your shoes
Or from the hooves of your high horse
You had your chance to show affection
(you had your chance to show me some affection)
You had your chance to give me more
(you had your chance to give me more baby)
And now that shes found new direction
You make your way to my back door
What makes you think the whole world wants you
Give steel a kiss and it will bend
The flesh is weak and when its all been said and done
The spirits all thats left in the end
If you have to saddle your high horse
Go on and ride out of my sight
(ride out of my sight)
You never had the time of day for me you know you didnt
And now you want to spend the night
Youre big with the come on like its no big deal
No big deal to you
You let the wild wind blow your course
(wild wind blow your course)
I do not want the dirt from your shoes
Or from the hooves of your high horse
I do not want the dirt from your shoes
Or from the hooves of your high horse
From your high horse
From your high horse
Yeah
song performed by by Indigo Girls
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The farmer and his wife (Sestina)
A girl was lying down flat on her back
with a straw hat at eye height over hair,
she was sun-struck, curling and fair
with a rain cloud ominous and black
drifting in a blue sky and a small track
meandering past and it needed some repair.
Some of your makeup is in need of repair,
there’s a guitar bag slung over your back
where you walk pass the girl at the dirt track
with the strong wind frizzling through your hair
and the sky is already turning black
but the evening up to now is fair.
Slowly you walk past the local fair
with some of the stalls needing repair,
the guitar you are carrying is black
and you walk straight on, do not look back
at the whistles of some men with long hair
while home you take a narrow long track.
Watching our horses on the racetrack
you are really sexy and very fair,
our horses do parade with shining hair
you notice that the stands need some repair
and I am standing somewhat at your back
while you are dressed prettily in black.
The highway is like a ribbon that is black
where it meets the old overgrown farm track,
there are huge blue-gum trees some way back
and you agree that the price of the Lucerne is fair
where some cows graze at the pen, needing repair,
swishing with tails to drive flies from their hair.
I pull my fingers slowly through my hair
and there are streaks of grey in the black,
but the cattle are only doing fair
while my love is coming with the field’s track
that must constantly be kept in repair
and I hear her singing over my back.
There were torn out hair a long time back,
when I met my darling and she was fair,
at a fight at a track, I was in need of repair.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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When Daylight Goes To Town
I remember you when you was me
oh what a beautiful sight
you'd cool it up
or you'd cool it down
from some dizzy, dizzy height
I can still hear that rolling sound
like a diesel in my head
sometimes I wake and I think of you now
forgetting that you're dead
I was born on a rolling train
Runnin' when I hit the ground
I watch these wheels turning now
nothing here, nothing left
watching the daylight fade away
watching the daylight go to town
Well
This hotel rooms like the wild, wild west
and there's strangers moving underground
I still have your photograph
it picks me up when I'm feeling down
Pull up a chair and you pour me one
let's kick back and let it roll
There's nothing here
and there's nothing left
but watching the daylight go to town
We'd get swept up on a pillow fight
you just couldn't let it go
I watch these wheels turning now
nothing here, nothing left
watching the daylight fade away
watching the daylight go to town
Don't you fade away
solo
Well I guess I'm walking right back home
got to set this all down
pull up a chair and you pour me two
cos there's nothing here,nothing left
but watching the daylight turn around
watching the daylight go to town
watching this world spin around
watching the daylight go to town
song performed by by Ufo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Yes Yes
when God created love he didn't help most
when God created dogs He didn't help dogs
when God created plants that was average
when God created hate we had a standard utility
when God created me He created me
when God created the monkey He was asleep
when He created the giraffe He was drunk
when He created narcotics He was high
and when He created suicide He was low
when He created you lying in bed
He knew what He was doing
He was drunk and He was high
and He created the mountians and the sea and fire at the same time
He made some mistakes
but when He created you lying in bed
He came all over His Blessed Universe.
Submitted by .eve.
poem by Charles Bukowski
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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THE JUMPING HORSES OF THE CARNIVAL (edited, my eyes are failing me)
Do you still remember
the jumping horses of the carnival
when we were yet small?
Do you remember sometime
in July of 1968?
The horses were made of tin
in different colors,
practically all other colors
which were impossible for real horses
that we knew of
black, gray, white, brown, spotted
there were pink, yellow green
and rainbow horses
(i hope you remember
that you preferred the black ones)
Those horses did not jump on their own
You bet
A hand held their feet
and when your guess won,
you got
a cheap teddy bear
Those horses move with the music
of the old record player
with a harsh and confused voice
like a desert storm
and there was a Big Man
holding the microphone
Dictating who shall move next
till your number won the prize
of your persistence
i called you stupid &
That was the beginning of my criticism
Turned treatise of Reason
Now, i am going back there to obtain more data
Perhaps, i shall then be
Enlightened in black and white, perhaps,
i am not sure anymore
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A Gallop of Fire
When the north wind moans thro' the blind creek courses
And revels with harsh, hot sand,
I loose the horses, the wild red horses,
I loose the horses, the mad, red horses,
And terror is on the land.
With prophetic murmer the hills are humming,
The forest-kings bend and blow;
With hoofs of brass on the baked earth strumming,
O brave red horses, they hear us coming,
And the legions of death lean low.
O'er the wooded height, and the sandy hollow
Where the boles to the axe have rung,
Tho' they fly the foreman as flies the swallow,
The fierce red horses, my horses, follow
With flanks to the faint earth flung.
Or with frenzied hieroglyphs, fear embossing
Night's sable horizon bars,
Thro' tangled mazes of death-darts crossing,
I swing my leaders and watch them tossing
Their red manes against the stars.
But when South winds sob in the drowned creek courses
And whisper to hard wet sand,
I hold the horses, the spent red horses,
I hold the horses, the tired red horses,
And silence is on the land.
Yea, the South wind sobs among the drowned creek courses
For sorrows no man shall bind---
Ah, God! For the horses, the black plumed horses,
Dear God! For the horses, Death's own pale horses,
That raced in the tracks behind.
poem by Marie E J Pitt
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Heads Were Dancing
You talked me into the game of chance.
It was 39, before the music started,
When you walked up to me and you said,
Hey, heads we dance.
Well, I didnt know who you were
Until I saw the morning paper:
There was a picture of you
A picture of you cross the front page.
It looked just like you, just like you in every way.
But it couldnt be true.
It couldnt be true.
You stepped out of a stranger.
They say that the devil is a charming man.
And just like you I bet he can dance.
And hes coming up behind in his long
Tailed black coat dance,
All tails in the air.
But the penny landed with its head dancing.
A picture of you, a picture of you in uniform,
Standing with your head held high,
Hot down to the floor.
But it couldnt be you.
It couldnt be you.
Its a picture of hitler.
He go do-do-do-do-do
He go do-do-do-do-do
He go do-do-do-do-do--
Do you want to dance?
Well, I couldnt see what was to be,
So I just stood there laughing.
A picture of you, a picture of you in uniform,
Standing with your head held high,
Hot down to the floor.
But it couldnt be you.
It couldnt be you.
Its a picture of hitler.
He go mmh-mmh-mmh-mmh-mmh
He go mmh-mmh-mmh-mmh-mmh
He go mmh-mmh-mmh-mmh-mmh--
Heads were dancing.
song performed by by Kate Bush
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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