CORRALLED
corralled in this space
the dappled gray stallion
prances and paces,
emitting discontent wails
with every swish
of his tail
piercing the air
the distant, strident call
of his mare
reignites the delirium
of his addiction
to freedom
intensity seems to define
the stallion’s circles
of its confines;
unwilling to curtail
his right, he pitches
forward to clear the rail
vanishing into the pleats
of time and space,
only echoes of hoof beats
are heard on the plains,
leaving behind the corral:
an empty shell of pain
2011-11-06
P. Wanken
Written for Poetic Asides “Chapbook Challenge” Day 6: write an “addiction” poem; and The Sunday Whirl prompt to use these twelve words: dappled, piercing, shell, air, strident, reignite, delirium, emit, pleat, pitch, swish, and seem.
echoes from the silence 
Excellent write!
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Love this, especially “empty shell of pain.” Wonderful.
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Thanks, De. I’m actually really lovin’ this one… 🙂 ~Paula
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Like this very descriptive tale (almost wrote tail). And yes, you are right, the PAD challenge almost demands a combination of prompts to satisfy our peculiar hunger, lol.
Elizabeth
http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/
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Thank you Elizabeth! I’m glad you’re doing the challenge…I enjoy reading your work. I just don’t get around to everyone like I’d like! ~Paula.
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You have tapped into your inner storyteller. This is great.
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Oh no, MIke…have I written too many rhyming poems lately that my rhymes don’t get a mention here?! 😉 As for the inner storyteller…maybe your novel has inspired me. But I have an attention span of a gnat, so this is about as long of a story you’ll get from me.
~Paula
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Now this is fun. The rhyme is not obvious which is how one wants rhyme to be unless doing Dr, Seuss. But it’s your pacing I love. I reread to figure out how you managed to convey horses corraled and unhappy about it and it’s your use of the several syllable words. Go up and reread for yourself. Nicely done.
margo
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Thanks, margo…as I mentioned….the rhyming caught me by surprise since I was nearly done before I realized I had been rhyming at all. And this is definitely one of those times when the words told me what they wanted to say. My words wrote the first wordle. The words themselves wrote this second one. ~Paula
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“Vanishing into the pleats of time and space…” You nailed this Wordle, Paula. Loved this – will send my sister a link, because she has horses. She takes the old ones off rich people’s hands, God bless her.
The pain of the corral. That analogy can work for an office, perhaps a home where no love resides within its walls… I was so happy for the stallion. This was beautiful! Peace and freedom… Amy
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Thank you so much, Amy. I appreciate your feedback…and forwarding the link. (And yes — God bless her!) And I’m happy you commented re: the analogy of the pain of the corral. 🙂
Peace to you, too…
Paula
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I was right there inside the fence with your stallion….my heart lifting as he cleared the fence. Wonderful.
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Sherry – this is actually one of my favorite poems I’ve written…I’m so glad to know your reaction. Thank you! ~Paula
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I share this stallions addiction.
Your words paint a vivid picture of the cruelty of caging animals and the joys of escape.
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Thank you, Tino, for your visit and your comments…greatly appreciated!
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I felt like cheering as he cleared that fence!
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YAY! Thank you for that. To evoke that kind of reaction means my words did what they were supposed to do. 🙂
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Reblogged this on echoes from the silence and commented:
Re-blogging this poem from 2011 — a friend recorded it on a podcast:
Click here: http://iainkemp.com/?p=2503
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