Rainy Day at the Stable

Wet, wet,wet......

Rainy Day at the Stable

The rain is sleeting

cold and drips from my

matted hair in wet rivulets

down my face.

I watch Sophie grazing,

unaffected by the deluge

as Scarlet follows me

hopeful that my wheelbarrow

is full of hay.

Jacob and Jimmy and Sunny

and Apollo, in the adjacent field,

stand around variously

nibbling grass or meandering,

their blankets drenched.

The occasional whinny

or snort carries on

the hanging mist.

The smell of damp hay

and fresh horse manure

permeates the dank

October air as I bend

again to scoop more

equestrian dung into

an already full barrow

before pushing it across

the sodden field, back

to the yard, heft it up the

slippery plank and disgorge

the contents onto the trailer.

I take the pitchfork, handle

glistening moist and chilled

and pile the contents high

and back to make space for

another load.

 

11/10/14

Author's Note

Reviews

[Ladysue]

this was penned ever so skillfully as it brought to life a ordinary rainy day in the stables. You’re skill painted the picture with extraordinary images in that it made the reader feel as if one was right there. excellent story telling..

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you so much Ladysue.

[Ladysue]

my pleasure John.. :)

[Siddhartha Chatterjee]

At the risk of repeating myself, once again, imagery - excellent! I also might add, the element of smell. With a few strokes/words, you have captured that so well.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I volunteered at a local stables for a time and it was such a learning experience filled with sound and smell. I am glad you were able to discern those smells and sounds. Many, many thanks.

[kentuck14]

John, My daughter used to work in stables . . . yes hard and smelly work. Nice look at a work many people have no idea about.
T.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thanks Tom. I was only a once per week volunteer and enjoyed the experience. I have great respect for the young people who do it full time. The woman I worked with worked very hard indeed and did all the physical stuff too.

[Cherrie]

A poetic view of mucking the stale, been there done that and it never sounded so interesting.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I used to volunteer one day a week at a local stable. I was learning to ride there and wanted to get more familiuar with things. I used to go in on a Monday when the stable was closed and work with one one of the female stable hands. It was a long and physical day. All I was fit for at the end was to soak in a warm bath with a beer. I wrote this in my head while 'poopicking' the fields in cold driving rain. It was so peaceful and despite being soaked to the skin, enjoyable. Thanks Cherrie.

[Cherrie]

I agree there is deep satisfaction in working with your hands and tending to the details of life.

[Markus Anthony]

I've never seen a stable in my life, we don't have much here in our country. We have a poulty house which my father visits everyday to feed his chickens. The smel of chicken manure doesn't bother me at all, only the noise. Your work allowed me to imagine such uniqueness of other countries, of farmlands and a stable with horses with cute names, and the rain that makes the soil damp, and even the smell of hay and sweat of working to keep the animals fed. Thank you for sharing your work.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you so much Markus. i guess all countries have different sensations and experiences to offer. My son has been in Vietnam these past fre years and I went out to visit him last year it was so different.

[Kelly Scheppers]

The chill of the rain permeates throughout this extraordinary write...such a slice of life that speaks your tongue so fluently!

[John Alexander McFadyen]

How I am glad that my tongue speaks to you Kelly!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

this reminds me of william carlos williams' "red wheelbarrow"--

how such a utilitarian thing...as horse dung, and the wheelbarrow...are in a sense, just mundane necessities, yet you give them aesthetics...poetical personality.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed. Thank you Jacob.