hard to control
this hooved creature darting
through the remote and tangled woods
behind his dreaming eyes

but what muscular definition
what beauty in his haunches
what grace in the sly work of his hands
what aching reedy whispers curl his lips

how I long to catch him by his shaggy tail
smooth his peevish brow his matted coat
sing him down from the high of anxiety
feed him flowers from my ungloved hand

[Hillary Lyon is editor for the small press poetry journals The Laughing Dog, and Veil: Journal of Darker Musings. She holds an MA in Literature from SMU. Her work has appeared recently in Red River Review, From the Depths, and Shot Glass Journal. She lives in Southern Arizona.]