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WHEN I AM AN OLD HORSE WOMAN
 
 by Patty Barnhart
 
 I shall wear turquoise
 And a straw cowboy hat
 that doesn’t match and doesn’t suit me.
 And I shall spend my social security on white wine and carrots
 And sit in the alleyway of my barn
 And listen to my horses breathe
 
 I will sneak out in the middle of a summer night
 And ride the dappled mare
 Across the moonstruck meadow
 In only my slip
 If my old bones will allow
 
 And when people call I will laugh at jokes unspoken
 As I walk them past the gardens to the barn
 And show instead the flowers growing there
 In stalls fresh lined with straw
 
 I will learn to swear and spit and wear hay in my hair
 As if it were a jewel
 And I will be an embarrassment to my child
 Who will not have found the peace in being free
 To love a horse as if a friend
 With nuzzle and nicker and patient eyes
 For the kind of woman I will be
 When I am old