Horses on the Grass

By Grace Schulman b. 1935 Grace Schulman

From the tower window

the moon

draws a silver maple’s shadow

across a spangled lawn;

horses

rear, manes lashing the air,

front legs floating.

Half monarch,

half shadow, the tree

aspires to the sky;

one branch, cracked by lightning,

scrapes the earth.

Reflected

on the grass, bent twigs

are curved hooves, galloping

as the moon rises.

Divided it stands

in wholeness, mourning

its victories, praising

the god of trees, the king of horses.

The tree holds souls

in a bark prison

poised like a runner at the starting line—

and bolts free, wildly

pawing the ground those roots lie under.

Grace Schulman, “Horses on the Grass” from Days of Wonder: New and Selected Poems. Copyright © 2002 by Grace Schulman. Reprinted with the permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved, www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com.

Source: Days of Wonder: New and Selected Poems (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002)

Biography

Poet and editor Grace Schulman was born in 1935 in New York City, studying at Bard College, American University, and New York University, where she earned her PhD. She is distinguished professor of English at Baruch College, CUNY, and served as the poetry editor of the Nation from 1972 to 2006. She also directed the 92nd Street Y Poetry Center from 1973 to 1985. She has published six collections of poetry, including Days of . . .

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