Peter Burzynski
Traveled Around
Tell a Clydesdale that he’s
a mule. Ride him, lie to him.
He’s not a steed. Pay him
with grain and cubes of salt.
He will not shit on your
floor. He will work like a steed,
but screw like an Olympian
in the hundred-yard-dash—
singles competition. He will
let you rip the saddles right
off of his back. He will cook
for you. He will cook you—
imagine! He will feed celebrities,
Give him your laurels! Glib,
but he will take them. He will
run for you. He will eat right
out of the palm of macerated
hands. He will work for food.
He is so damn happy to have
a job. He is so damn hungry
for attention and love and
friendship and other tired
abstractions. Give him clichés
to unbend. Give him livery
or give him a desk. Give him
whatever you’ve got left. He is a/an:
American Cream Draft, Quarter,
Banker, Bashkir Curly, Black Forest,
Blazer, Brandenburger, Byelorussian
Harness, Canadian Pacer, Carolina
Marsh Tacky, Castillian, Choctaw,
Cleveland Bay, Clydesdale, Colorado
Ranger, Cold-blood Trotter, Cuban
Danube Delta, Dutch Heavy Draft,
Estonian, Falabella, Florida Cracker,
Friesian Cross, Furioso North Star,
Galician, Gelderland, Georgian Grande,
Gypsy Vanner, Hackney, Heck, Hirzai,
Holsteiner, Indian Half-Bred, Irish
Draught, Jaca Navarra, Kabarda,
Kentucky Mountain Saddle, Kinsky,
Knabstrupper, Konik, Kustanair,
Lustiano, Miniature, Misaki, Missouri
Fox Trotter, Mongolian, Murgese,
Mustang, Namib Desert, National Show,
Nokota, Oberlander, Orlov, Ostfriesen,
Palamino, Pampa, Pentro, Peruvian Paso,
Qatgani, Quarab, Racking, Rhenish-German
Cold-Blood, Rocky Mountain, Romanian Sport,
Russian Don, San Fratello, Shire, Silesian,
Standard-bred, Suffolk, Svensk
Kallblodstravare, Taishuh, Tennessee
Walking, Tersk, Thoroughbred, Tiger,
Tori, Trait du Nord, Ukrainian Riding,
Virginia Highlander, Vlaamperd, Vyatka,
Waler, Walkaloosa, Warlander, Welsh Cob,
Wielkopolski, Württemburger, Xilingol,
Yakutian, Yili, Zweibrücker horse. Instead
of being a steed ahead of the pack he’s sauntering
over the finish line with one last gamble left.
