"guerr" by Márcia Tannure
horse poem for a long gone lover by Brendan Walsh
just past the dairy, the mother’s pens,
their kids transferred or sold off by now,
a sudden summer storm, temperate
like the thunder of my childhood that drew
me to the basement for fear of tornadoes
that never materialized, the two stallions
stand shimmering in the grazing field.
someone has laid blankets over their backs.
i’m told they shiver at night, tall as war
memorials you’d see in any city park.
i think of the dead horses and dead men,
bodies bludgeoned and rotted in battlefields.
it was all a waste, i say, just look at these
horses: the power of their rumps, thick veins
along their bellies. what is it that we want
from the world? the rain frames them
and i suddenly feel in a movie. this is
the part where the heroes learn the truth
about god, or the universe, of who loves who.
the field is full of heroes and gods. the field
is a universe. and i love you. so much.
their kids transferred or sold off by now,
a sudden summer storm, temperate
like the thunder of my childhood that drew
me to the basement for fear of tornadoes
that never materialized, the two stallions
stand shimmering in the grazing field.
someone has laid blankets over their backs.
i’m told they shiver at night, tall as war
memorials you’d see in any city park.
i think of the dead horses and dead men,
bodies bludgeoned and rotted in battlefields.
it was all a waste, i say, just look at these
horses: the power of their rumps, thick veins
along their bellies. what is it that we want
from the world? the rain frames them
and i suddenly feel in a movie. this is
the part where the heroes learn the truth
about god, or the universe, of who loves who.
the field is full of heroes and gods. the field
is a universe. and i love you. so much.
Brendan Walsh has lived and taught in South Korea, Laos, and South Florida. His work appears in Rattle, Glass Poetry, American Literary Review, and other journals. He's the winner of America Magazine's 2020 Foley Poetry Prize, and the author of five collections, including 'Buddha vs. Bonobo' (Sutra Press), and 'fort lauderdale' (Grey Book Press). His chapbook 'concussion fragment', winner of the 2021 elsewhere Chapbook Prize, is forthcoming from elsewhere Press. He’s online at www.brendanwalshpoetry.com.
Márcia Tannure is a visual artist, born in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. She started her artistic practice when studying porcelain painting. Later, she studied observation and artistic design at INAP / MG. She graduated in Social Work from PUC-Minas with a postgraduate degree in art therapy from Projeto Terra / MG. Some years later she moved to Rio de Janeiro / RJ, where she studied Sculpture at the School of Fine Arts of UFRJ. At the visual arts school Parque Lage she studied contemporary art and exhibition design. She currently lives in Niterói / RJ, Brazil, where she develops research in fire arts and has great inspiration from nature. You can find her on instagram: @marciatannure
