a poem in my pocket

Linking to De’s prompt at dVerse on enjambment…

(Enjambment occurs when a phrase carries over a line-break without a major pause)

hay claw/pulley on ebay

If i remember right,

his grandfather told

story of when

they were filling

barn loft with

hay crop of

rectangular bales in

clutches of six, hung

from clawed

bale hook swung

from hay wagon up, up, up

in-to

loft’s massive open

door,

slide creeeaking toward back of

loft and released with a

jerkkk

when close to position of men stacking

bales (by hand) inside barn.

Metal framed hooks hung from

pulley on cable while entire

mechanism was

operated by horse power;  this day’s

chosen

 beast of burden was

neighbor’s loyal work horse, well-trained to

obey master’s voice commands.

They had un-loaded

a few clutches of hay bales when some-

thing terrible,  when some-

thing went terribly

wrong…

The horse, wearing blinders,

un-expectedly sidestepped, shying

in fear from un-certain threat, whether

dog barked,  kitten scampered, or

barn swallow

swooped,

that horse jumped off path, over low curb of wide

shallow well, covered by light lumber;

the now terrified animal’s weight

broke through

boards…

men watched helplessly as it

f

e

l

l

down  into

the  w

e

l

l

and drowned.