the girl who loves horses

i see

her coming up the street

on crutches,

a cast

on her leg,

a surgical halo around her head

to keep

it from

bobbing

left and right as she

limps

towards me.

fell off your horse again,

right?

yes, she says, 

smiling wearily,

but it was my fault.

i shouldn't have

told him

to try and jump that fence.

i think i need

to lose some weight.

maybe get on Ozempic.

but i'll be riding again

soon,

maybe a year or two

once they put

a screw in my leg, and surgically

repair

my spine.

i have a down payment

on a new horse, though,

from a breeder in Middleburg,

the last one

didn't make it

when he crashed into the fence

then ran

into the road

where a tractor trailer

full of chickens

ran him over,

but i love horses, she says,

i can't imagine

my life without one.

do you have any extra-strength

Tylenol on you? by the way.

or morphine?