I sat in Starman’s stall,
waiting
for the vet,
remembering it all;
his velvet eyes
begging for watermelon,
his rocking horse canter,
the ribbons
woven in his mane —
now wet
with my tears.
Hoofprints In My Garden
Poetry and Prose by Annette Mickelson
Hoofprints In My Garden 
Sooo heartbreaking! I just experienced this with my 14 year old chocolate lab so this hit home pretty hard. The tears…
Beautifully written. I waited for a vet at a horse show after a bad crash through a coop. Horse was ok after 117 stitches. It doesn’t sound like yours fared so well! Sorry.
So sad and so beautiful.
Very sad, made me want to cry. Good job!
It seems as though you can’t bring yourself to say the word directly, and the way you have painted around that lacuna is (as Gina said) heartbreaking. Just the right balance of pain and joy, very nicely done.
Thanks Joseph. Losing an animal is always hard but this one, especially so. He left us a few years ago and I still miss him. My husband started reading this poem and couldn’t finish. Starman was a special horse. I wrote pages of notes for this poem, and condensed it down to this.
Oh this is heartbreaking. I’m sorry for your loss. You’ve written so beautifully about it. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Annette, this really moves me. I understand about Starman being special. Sometimes there is an animal that stands out, that bonds deeply, apart from the others. Such was my big black wolf, whom I still miss after a year and a half, and still cry for. Beautiful poem – beautiful memories – heartbreaking loss.