Poem 146 of 230: HORSES FOR COURSES?
To some (in income-anticipation),
Horse baulking, at gates, is a small debase;
To me, it seems a memory/fear case
Over the coming whip-castigation.
To some, the winning jockey’s elation
Is the highlight of an ended horserace;
To me, the horse’s bulged veins and scared face
Undermine the winners’ celebration.
I can’t condone a punter’s desire
To gamble rather than earn a living,
But can acknowledge a jockey’s courage;
I can’t see and think as a raced courser,
Nor feel the scrapes fences are giving,
But find horses choiceless in their bondage.
(C) David Franks 2003
To some (in income-anticipation),
Horse baulking, at gates, is a small debase;
To me, it seems a memory/fear case
Over the coming whip-castigation.
To some, the winning jockey’s elation
Is the highlight of an ended horserace;
To me, the horse’s bulged veins and scared face
Undermine the winners’ celebration.
I can’t condone a punter’s desire
To gamble rather than earn a living,
But can acknowledge a jockey’s courage;
I can’t see and think as a raced courser,
Nor feel the scrapes fences are giving,
But find horses choiceless in their bondage.
(C) David Franks 2003
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| The Gift Horse, Trafalgar Square; 3/5/2016 |
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| King George IV Statue, Trafalgar Sq.; 3/5/16 |
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| Stubbs' Whistlejacket, London's National Gallery; 30/5/2016 |
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| The Boudiccan Rebellion statue, Westminster, London; 26/8/16 |
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| Manchester Art Gallery; 9/3/17 |
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| Bronze of a Moroccan Berber Horse in the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha; 8/12/2017 |
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| By Bridgewater Canal towpath; June 2021 |
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| National Railway Museum, York; 29/9/21 |
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| Blackpool Promenade, Lancashire; 29/9/22 |
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| Marly Horses, Louvre, Paris; 28/5/2023 |
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| Barra, The Gambia; 27/2/2025 |
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| Robert Napier...get on your bike?! Sth. Kensington, London; 5/8/25 |
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| Horses in a field, painted by my grandfather |
