The baby dozed in a hammock strung across the veranda,
day cooling down as I mounted the black Andalusian
nuzzling my boy as I rose up onto him. We wandered
along the well-worn trail to the lake’s fenced meadow.
Gitano nibbled clover as I watched the sun drop down
like fire on the lake, dormant volcano in the distance.
We trotted back, dark falling, when he came to a halt,
neighed, backed up, would not move like some mule.
Above his ears, my focus sharpened on a barbed wire.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I buried my face
in his mane, rode back to the finca in surrender, slid
into the hammock, cradled my child to my breast,
a fiery lake blazing beneath my drooping lids,
whinny from the paddock a lullaby in my ears.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 25, Issue 2.
Andrena Zawinski’s third and recently released full poetry collection is Landings. Her poems have received accolades for free verse, form, lyricism, spirituality, and social concern. She is Features Editor at PoetryMagazine.com and founded and runs the San Francisco Bay Area Women’s Poetry Salon.See all items about Andrena Zawinski
