A Poem for the Girls

 

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When I am Old...


I shall wear diamonds and a baseball cap that doesn't suit me,
And I shall spend my social security on white wine, carrots and equipment I do not need.

And will sit in the alleyway of my barn
And listen to my horses breathe.
I will sneak out in the middle of a summer's night and ride the chestnut mare across the moonstruck meadow

If my old bones will allow.

When people come to call I will smile and nod as I walk them past the gardens to the barn and show, instead, the Beauty of a newborn filly in a stall fresh-lined with straw.
I will shovel and sweat and wear hay in my hair as if it were jewels.

And I will be an embarrassment to all who know me and have not

Found the peace in being free
To love a horse as a friend,

A friend who waits at the midnight hour with nuzzle and nicker and patient eyes
For the kind of woman I will be when I am old.

Written by Patty Barnhart