Poem: The Mendicant

The horse’s hooves were

unlike the cloven hooves of a goat,

in leaving behind their mendicant driver

in the fluting.

But he was not abased

in the trench,

he did not bow his head—

he was neither dispirited,

and no amount of clip-clopping

of other horses on their way to church

would alienate him.

Emily Isaacson