Nutmeg Hair Wound in the Curry Comb

nutmeg hair
wound in the
curry comb gave
indication that the
day's ride shed a discovery
of what lay beneath the rawhide

a position
of knees bent
for the better part
of the day postured in
the saddle for what the
wind whispered to her gave
her indication what she knew
long before took a horse to deliver
her to understanding

she rubbed
saddle soap
that way - and
it had a smell all
of its own that lingered
months after the ride where
memory parts its hair soft with
wet devotion of a night after a day
of location

the barn
is where things
make their presence
known and the wood preserves
truth of our own where we pull out
a flask of whiskey in our duster pocket
and drink not because we're thirsty but
because we are free to do so

knowing where
to find inspiration
is knowing you know
where to look and I know
you have found it in the nutmeg
hair wound in the curry comb

Copyright Ms. Sage Sweetwater, Celebrity firebrand lesbian novelist