Bought my ticket

Bet on you

Wild lathered sprint

You were noble

Your nostrils flaring

To take in more air

I’ve never been lucky

Another horse won

You grew embittered

One day without cause

You went lame

Standing in your stable

Ignoring my entreaty

You could have been a prize winner

I expect you thought

Watching younger horses groomed for their chance

You had more fury than a church and none of the peace

When I lit a candle I prayed

You’d run away in the night

And I would be spared your decline

Into the caustic rough

A shadow of your former self

I remember when you started out

I didn’t look closely at your teeth

Grateful for the moment

Until time became an enemy

Your eyes hard like marbles

And if you’d really been a horse

You’d have thrown me

Intent on breaking

Something