the gift horse

it arrived under the curtain

aside the crouton table

inside the old cottage

that i had forgotten about

and you couldn't find your

hands with a knife

on top of the building

there was blood everywhere

a wild leopard print 

covered most of iowa

universities snatching

kids from school buses

i was knitting a sweater

of soft horse hair

alone in the black barn

stroking back the flies

into the mouth of

old saint nick asleep

at the kitchen table

a thin trail of urine

running out 

from under him

inside his icy BBQ

dream house