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Tuesday, June 29, 2021

HORSES IN THE HEAT

by Matt Witt


Photograph by Matt Witt.


We used to joke
that the old farmer’s horses
were “out standing in their field.”
 
But now it’s 115 degrees
and it’s all they can do
to breathe.
 
They’re horses,
so they don’t ask
why it is hot 
like never before
or who stands in the way of
doing something about it.
 
On the fence that
keeps them in their place
there will soon be signs
with the slogan
“Horses Strong,”
celebrating their “resilience”
and urging them to be proud
that they are somehow surviving
the unnatural heat.


Matt Witt is a writer and photographer from Talent, Oregon.