Ioanna Warwick
Plato's Horse
Torrance, California
idea: from the Greek idein, to see
Behind a waste-lot fence, I saw
a horse gallop to the top of a hill
and stand there
utterly in the wind --
The highway was no longer
the same for miles --
over it gleamed
that Greek-perfect steed --
the same for miles --
over it gleamed
that Greek-perfect steed --
Plato's horse,
now also an immigrant,
displaced from the green
slopes of an allegory --
now also an immigrant,
displaced from the green
slopes of an allegory --
this glimpse of splendor
on a barren hillock
between the oil refineries,
the pale stacks day and night
on a barren hillock
between the oil refineries,
the pale stacks day and night
spewing ghostlike flame;
the cracked concrete
of industrial lots gray with skeletal
weeds so dry they creak --
the cracked concrete
of industrial lots gray with skeletal
weeds so dry they creak --
In the dregs of a great city
decanted from its dream,
the horse's quintessential brown,
his mane the idea of wind --
decanted from its dream,
the horse's quintessential brown,
his mane the idea of wind --
Scholars say Plato meant
pattern, concept, form.
I think he meant this:
when you see
pattern, concept, form.
I think he meant this:
when you see
for seconds and forever.
Copyright (C) Ioanna Warwick, 2006. All rights reserved.