Travelmates/Women and trailriding

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Maddy maddy@hotstuff4horses.com
 When I am an old Horsewoman
 I shall wear turquoise and diamonds,
 and a straw hat that doesn't suit me.
 And I shall spend my social security on sugar cubes and carrots,
 and sit in the alley-way of my barn
 and listen to my horses breathe.
 I will sneak out in the middle of a summer night
 and ride the old sorrel gelding
 across the moonstruck meadow
 if my old bones will allow.
And when people come to call, I will smile and nod
as I walk past the gardens to the barn
and show, instead of the flowers growing there,
stalls fresh-lined with straw.
 I will shovel and sweat and wear hay in my hair
 as if it were a jewel.
 And I will be an embarrassment to all
who will not yet have found the peace in being free
 to have a horse as if a friend....
a friend who waits at midnight hour
 with soft muzzle and a nicker and patient eyes
 for the kind of woman I will be
 when I am old.