Horses at Midnight Without a Moon
By: Jack Gilbert - 1925-2012
Our heart wanders lost in the dark woods. Our dream wrestles in the castle of doubt. But there's music in us. Hope is pushed down but the angel flies up again taking us with her. The summer mornings begin inch by inch while we sleep, and walk with us later as long-legged beauty through the dirty streets. It is no surprise that danger and suffering surround us. What astonishes is the singing. We know the horses are there in the dark meadow because we can smell them, can hear them breathing. Our spirit persists like a man struggling through the frozen valley who suddenly smells flowers and realizes the snow is melting out of sight on top of the mountain, knows that spring has begun.
You can find this poem in Jack Gilbert’s Collected Poems. He’s one of my favorites. This book sits on my nightstand.
"Our spirit persists like a man struggling
through the frozen valley
who suddenly smells flowers
and realizes the snow is melting
out of sight on top of the mountain,
knows that spring has begun."
Gorgeous!
Jack Gilbert isn’t read widely enough. I’m always so happy to see his poems brought to people’s attention. Thank you! Intelligence mixed with intimacy and a particular tenderness -- that’s Gilbert for me.