WHEN A HORSE WEPT

WHEN A HORSE WEPT
(for Oreo)

grief unknown to us
but exists

as a Colorado storm
swept through our
pastures wide

nature could not forgive
bad timing for the life inside
my mare

that came out to meet
the twirling snowflakes of
a cruel and crystal morning

going to feed the herd
and found her standing
slumped over the frozen
spotted stillness

nudging the lifelessness
as if it could
get up and run

and we wanted it too
all of us

now ripped to pieces beyond
belief for a filly never to
be

and we hauled her
little body away
momma looking on
sad calls to a
nonchalant wind

as we wept at a burial
she could not attend

and she searched
oh how she searched
for its ghost somewhere

out there running
knowing no beginning
nor an end

just as there was no end
for days of human tears
or one mare’s
unforgettable grief.