Up-ending the gift horse
Where to look at a gift horse,
if not in the mouth, where?
Rude to count its teeth, so maybe
in the belly, quatre fers en l’air?
From its back? Don’t jump it
over the birthday cake
or tie it to the Christmas tree
or put a wedding ring through
its nose to keep it from invading
your laptop.
If not in the mouth, where?
The other end? From which end
did the horse excrete the Greeks
into Troy? Don’t ask!
[PROMPT: Today, we challenge you to write a poem in which the words or meaning of a familiar phrase get up-ended. For example, if you chose the phrase “A stitch in time saves nine,” you might reverse that into something like: “a broken thread; I’m late, so many lost.” Or “It’s raining cats and dogs” might prompt the phrase “Snakes and lizards evaporate into the sky.” Those are both rather haunting, strange images, and exploring them could provide you with an equally haunting, strange poem (or a funny one!)]
Azimuth 