Feeding the horses

Night journaling
stirs me awake
as lines emerge

that familiar itching
under my shirt
hoisting hay bales
onto the
elevator

the two-legged stepping
of the erect stallion
mounting the mare

the twitching of their skin
when bitten by gadflies
peaceful hot
summer noons
standing in lazy pairs
swishing their tails
at each other’s faces

the rich smell
of their breath
and bodies
feeding them hay

my body remembers