Most Read... John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 189, Volume 36 Number 1, September - October 2009.

Three Poems Tara Bergin

You Could Show a Horse
(An experiment in collage)

You could show a horse, you might see some riderless horse,
galloping among the rushing among the enemy with its mane in the
wind with his mane flying in the wind causing heavy casualties and
doing no little mischief with his heels
. Or you could show a man,
mutilated, some maimed warrior may be seen lying on the ground
fallen to the earth shielding himself in some way covering himself with
his shield
with his enemy bent over him and trying to while the enemy
bending over him tries to deal him a deathstroke
- or show a lot of
people fallen on to a dead horse A number of men fallen in a heap
over a dead horse
and you could show the men you would see
some of the victors
, leaving the fight, abandoning the conflict emerging
from the and issuing from the crowd using both hands rubbing their
eyes and cheeks with both hands
, to clean their faces, to clean them of
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image