Three White Horses

THREE WHITE HORSES
July 4, 2004


Three white puff balls
lined up in a row
of reins and rings and rosettes
over ivory necks
and snow-white chests
and frosty flanks.
Three white marshmallows
soft and plush, one behind
one behind the other
with crystal-capped crests,
and eyes like sparkling jewels
above brumal cheeks
and icy muzzles.
Down their arctic manes
a frozen fall of chilly snow
that human palms slide
like five-fingered sleds
down withers, down backs,
down glacial shoulders.
A mound of snow, each rump
from which a frozen clump
of icicles hangs to the ground
above pearly hooves
where shivery frogs roost
against the earth in V-shaped
calcium grooves.
Three white horses patiently
waiting like powdery
drifts of snow.