Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE DREAMS OF WILD HORSES by THOMAS MCGRATH

First Line: NIGHT AND FULL MOON
Last Line: Moonlight weathering in the dry corn
Subject(s): ANIMALS; DREAMS; HORSES; PRAIRIES; NIGHTMARES; PLAINS;

Night and full moon.
A profane rhythm of
Man-throwing unsanctified broncos
Stampedes like wildfire
Into the sin-colored badlands.

Here, nightlong they invent new names,
Christening themselves
In the cold creek.
The dawn sky expels
Their lunar voices.

Harnessed to sunlight,
Sowing the city of silence,
They plant their names
In the dark.

Crazy Horse is dead.
Parched buffalo bones.
Moonlight weathering in the dry corn.


Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA
98368-0271, www.cc.press.org



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