Painted Ponies

Painted Ponies 

“We're captive on the carousel of time  

 We can't return we can only look  

 Behind from where we came” 

~Joan Mitchell, 1966, The Circle Game 

I used to look behind from where 

I came and clearly see the ‘painted 

ponies going up and down as 

the carousel goes round and round.” 

Now, the paint is chipped 

and fading away, the ponies, 

the dear ponies, are exhausted 

and long for nothing short 

of a long deep sleep.

I too no longer go round 

nd round. My own paint 

by now is weathered 

and I am stationary, 

as if the electricity 

that once coursed 

through me, 

has been shut off. 

Just a little more

rest, and then maybe

I will go and repaint

the painted ponies.

©Paul Goldman June 12, 2022

[photo by Tru Waters]