Gray Horse


I pay good money for a gray horse.
It makes me feel

like George Washington,

like I’ve waged war
and fathered something other
than sons and daughters.

I pay good money for a therapist
because I hate

George Washington.

I only intended to struggle a bit
and bring some new
idea

to light.
I never feel safe

as I dash about on my gray horse.
It’s as if I am all
alone

in an elevator
that pipes in nothing

but an instrumental version
of The Mamas and The Papas’ “Monday,

Monday.”


Glen Armstrong holds an MFA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and teaches writing at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He edits a poetry journal called Cruel Garters and has three recent chapbooks: Set List (Bitchin Kitsch), In Stone and The Most Awkward Silence of All (both Cruel Garters Press). His work has appeared in Poetry Northwest, Conduit and Cloudbank. Facebook: Glen Armstrong.