They watched a horse who stumbled
as a colt, now push death out of the way
and run as if he could do it forever,
his name drew people like a drug:
guarantees strewn about like bones
from another Era, they invented
new ones fast as that horse
jumped hurdles others missed
smoke filled drunken lives stumbled,
unprotected, diseases they got
inoculated against, but for chance
a misstep, bike a woman didn’t see
leaving a restaurant, suddenly
knocked out of life
a puddle this thoroughbred
jumped over, forcing him
off track, disqualified
at the finishing line

Linda Lerner’s recent collections include A Dance Around the Cauldron,(Lummox press, 2017, nominated by a Pushcart) Yes, The Ducks Were Real (NYQ Books, 2015;). When Death is a Red Balloon is forthcoming from Lummox Press this year & Taking the F Train, from NYQ Books, for future publication. Poems have recently appeared / accepted by Café Review, Trailer Park Quarterly, Wilderness Literary House Review, Gargoyle, & Cape Rock.