A Horse Behind Bars Poem by Patti Masterman

“The word is zebra, ” was what she said,
Her narrowed eyes pooling with significance;
What hidden trigger did she possess?
The knife she had not shown; not yet.

Red rivers ran behind her eyes,
In a face so flat and so unsmiling;
Cold reptiles were hunting sun,
Somewhere beneath vermilion skies.

A viper lodged behind her tongue,
She never stopped to choose her battles;
She thought the war had just begun-
But all her carnage days were done.