Love is a splendid horse

a poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

After a long hot evening in Piraeus,
going from bar to bar drinking ouzo
and listening to Greek version of Hard Rock,
I finally ended up in a house
where scantily dressed ladies sat
slumped in armchairs smoking cigarettes
while waiting for the trade to pick up.
I took a fancy to a very tall woman, with a long face,
who sat somewhat away from the others,
looking as she didn’t belong, although she neighed
when a raucous joke was told.
And the more I looked at her
the more she resembled
what could have been a fine mare,
only she was too mild tempered.
In her room with plastic roses, sweet scent
and doused pink light,
we sat on the edge of her bed
and chatted a little till I became convinced
that she indeed was a beautiful mare.
I paid the stable fee
and away we trotted,
she didn’t throw me off once.