March 2016
Sarah Frances Moran
sfrancesmoran@gmail.com
I have a deep love for animals.  I spend my days in Waco, Texas helping pet overpopulation by co-managing a busy spay/neuter surgery clinic.  My writing and editing is always accompanied by a heavy dose of cuddling from my crazy chihuahuas.  You may reach me at www.sarahfrancesmoran.com

​The Mare


I watched him whip you over and over
as you ran circles in the pen.
Made to break you and punish you for
acting as unnaturally natural as one might expect.
I don’t fully remember how we came to be there that day.
I know I wanted lessons, loved horses.
I know I was thrilled when he saddled you up and helped
me settle atop you.
I don’t remember my leg hurting.
Barely recall the giant bruise your hoof
left in my calf.
I can’t say that I even remember the way the rope
burned Mama’s hands as she tried to keep you from
throwing me.
I don’t have a good image in my head of whether the sky was blue
or how the ground felt when my body hit it
or rolling to barely miss you falling back on top of me.
What I do remember was the look in your eyes 
the fear, the confusion
and the pain.
The wildness urging to break free.  
The way your ears pinned flat against your head 
as you ran
The sound of the whip cracking
The dirt kicking up
I wonder if he knew in his attempt to break you
He broke something in me too.
©2016 Sarah Frances Moran