THE VOICE OF A HORSE by Dixie Ayala

I used to be a part of a wild herd

We were a family

Free to roam 

People decided we should be rounded up 

Why couldn’t they leave us alone

Or find a kinder way

 We were at their mercy

And they gave none

They ran us until some collapsed

The helicopters terrified us

A mare is separated from her filly

The mother screamed in anguish

She couldn’t save her baby

Laws supposedly protect us

They don’t

We are forced into small pens and families separated 

Our lives don’t matter

Many of the horses will die from loneliness

After I am captured

People decide to break me

They do

They break my spirit

I am grateful for the protestors and the human beings who tried to help us

Unfortunately the people won

I have nothing left