Tenth Summer

by B. K. England

When I outgrew my pony

And looked the pasture over,

The mare of Mother's childhood stood,

Belly-deep in clover.

Her mane a clouded tangle

Adrift with fallen bloom,

About her flanks, the lazy flies

Hummed a summer's tune.

Sunlight, shadows, golden hills,

June's sweet and cloudless skies,

Gentle grace and so much more

Reflected in her eyes.

I rode out from the meadow,

My kingdom to survey.

My scepter was a blossomed bough,

My throne a velvet sway.

We ambled down sun-dappled paths,

We forded quiet streams,

And Mother watched us come and go;

Her memories were my dreams.

So long ago, halcyon days,

Like childhood, too soon over,

But Mother's mare, in memory's eye,

Stands belly-deep in clover.