Draft

what horse what shoes

how red the forge what nails

to strike quench drive

to lead us from

this dead end

dross

we sort and pile

who will lend

their cart

its wheels old

or new

to lug out save

what is of use

who will lend

one strong horse its

black white brown

spots breath hot as

its hooves punch the snow

who will guide

and who will

smith the words

Nicole Caruso Garcia (she/her) is the author of OXBLOOD (Able Muse Press), which received the International Book Award for narrative poetry. Her work appears in Best New Poets, Light, Mezzo Cammin, ONE ART, Plume, Rattle, RHINO, and elsewhere. She serves as associate poetry editor at Able Muse and as an executive board member at Poetry by the Sea, an annual poetry conference in Madison, CT. Visit her at nicolecarusogarcia.com.