A Horse Called Story
For the Abecedarian Challenge
A horse, a fleeting flighty thought, wary, ready to
Bolt, buck. Be ready. He's
Champing, tail swishing, all that potential under the skin
Don't approach head on; don't look him in the mouth
Easy fella, easy
Flanks twitch, the plot shifts
Gently now, he's giving you side-eye (will that character work?)
Hand on bridle, his head thrown up, hold him steady, he mustn't run - yet
Inch round, ideas percolate
Just ease yourself onto his back, feel the tale thrum under you and in you
Knees whisper against his sides, nudge the yarn
Little bit is enough,
Muscles bunch, plot thickens, characters materialise
Need to be ready, he could careen
Off at any moment
Prancing, pawing the ground. Is your pen ready?
Quick reflexes needed, but he might also
Refuse to go. Be firm but
Steer him with a light hand, see where he takes you
Trust the beast, give him his head
Unexpected directions are a boon, not a
Vice, so be easy when you are tempted to
Wrestle with him; remember the wisdom of
Xenophon and don't annoy him, instead say
Yes and be thankful for his fire, especially if the bit between his teeth is
Zeitgeist
~o~
Thank you for reading!
I normally have a post limit of two, but this challenge is closing soon so I decided not to chance it!
About the Creator
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Outstanding
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Eye opening
Niche topic & fresh perspectives
Heartfelt and relatable
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Dog Number 13
May 15, 2023 Strange things are happening. Good-strange, bad-strange, and strange-strange. For starters, me and all my litter mates are able to stand. Some of us can even wiggle around in a clumsy manner. I say wiggle because it isn’t quite walking but it isn’t quite crawling. We just sort of stand and wiggle and fall and take a few steps and then crawl and then get up again. It is in this manner we are able to move around to some degree and explore our surroundings. Naturally we cannot go far. Which is ok, I suppose, because I am very small and I need my mother for food and my siblings to keep me warm and I feel very loved and comforted by them in some way, so I don’t know why I would need to go very far. Having four legs, I must admit, is very strange. It is not a surprise to me that it is challenging to coordinate them to move in the order they need to move. But I can get around a little bit, my eyes can stay open for much longer periods of time now, and it is easier to understand what is happening. So this is new.
By Morgan Longford2 days ago in Chapters
Comments (14)
Love the metaphor, and it works brilliantly in places like “Steer him with a light hand, see where he takes you”. Very original 👏
Superb! Trust the beast indeed. A stunning metaphor delivered with eloquence and insight. I loved this and place it among my most helpful craft essays 🥰
X fo Xenopon! Nice! I do not remember in this case what he may have said regarding horses. What was it? Well-wrought!
How fun! And here we started thinking it was just a horse. 😅 lovely job, and clever take on the challenge!
You take an idea on with such laser focus that you bend a supremely recalcitrant poetic form to your will, all while making it look easy. Every line snapped with the seasoned confidence of a wily and experienced trainer breaking a horse. Metaphors roll over on their backs like puppies to beg for your belly rubs. Wonderful work all the way to the perfect, final word.
oh those lovely wild horses. Love their free spiritedness. Let us tame that beast. I post when inspired, listening to my inner muse. Trying to do less, but there are man WIP.
I like the morphing of themes. A twitchy thoroughbred and an emerging story. Tread carefully, don't spook him. give him his head and see where he takes you.
Very powerful beautiful poem!
Challenges are an exception. You can break your rule of 2 posts a day for that. Loved your poem!
I absolutely love this, L.C. And when you turned from the heavily laden horse metaphor with the homonym "tale", catching our notice that the "tail" we were expecting has become the "tale" that is emerging--pure genius.
Zeitgeist was an interesting ending. May I only point out that maybe "hoofing" at the ground instead of "pawing"?
Fabulous!!! Your poem was fabulous!!!❤️❤️💕
This is fantastic!
Whoa, horsey horsey. That would be me. Great job on this one.