Horse Power

Lines of seething traffic stop and sprawl

Behind the lamb lorry, overturned,

Frustration building behind the wheels

As lambs tumble into sunlight and space. 

Horses under the bonnet stamp their feet.

 

Blue flashing lights speed past,

To round up lambs for the slaughter,

White soap suds swirling on the road,

 An SOS of bleats and baas. 

Under the bonnet  horses prick  their ears.

 

A thin pink line of local pigs

Races to the rescue with trotters and snouts,

 Rooting up the tarmac and blocking the road,

The lambs gambol off to freedom. 

The horses raise their heads and stir. 

 

Drivers open their windows,

Heightening the green grass smells

 And the horses excited begin to trot,

 Metal frames sweat and bend. 

Horse power takes control.

 

At a gallop they’re off,

 Up and over the road remnants,

 To the grooved track

And onto the farm beyond. 

Their coats gleam like metal in the sunlight.

 

The riders grip their wheels

And sit forward as their horses

 Gain their rhythm

Past gawping farmer and chasing dog. 

The jockeys urge their horses on.

 

Cantering through green damp hedgerow

Across the open fields,

 Spraying the flood water

And onto the hill. 

The hooves thunder upon the turf.

 

They run until exhausted,

 Halting by Friesan cows

Who raise their tails

And squirt manure into the fuel tank. 

Green energy.

 

Thirsty, they stop and drink at the pond

As the quietness falls upon the birdsong

And as the setting sun glows the leaves an emerald green,

Horses drop their heads under their bonnets and graze.