He didn’t like the hard horses
and the benches left him
nonplussed.
Given a choice
he preferred the secret box,
the singular tiny one-seat room
of total darkness.
He would enter quietly
and close the door behind him,
safely ensconced,
protected from calliope
and flashing lights,
a peaceful place
within artificial stampede.
As others call out
pretend cavalry
in search of golden ring,
he feels motion in safer silence,
acknowledging the reality
of going nowhere
in the black void of a dream
like the inside of an eyelid,
feeling only heartbeat’s thrum
as poled horses dance away
in some distant frantic universe
just outside his reach.

Gary Glauber is a poet, fiction writer, teacher, and former music journalist. His works have received multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations. His two collections, Small Consolations (Aldrich Press) and Worth the Candle (Five Oaks Press), and a chapbook, Memory Marries Desire (Finishing Line Press), are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and directly from the publishers.