HORSES IN THE GULLY
—After the painting, “All the Tired Horses in the Sun,” by A.C. Canon
The artist says they’re tired,
maybe because they’re in a gully,
each direction a climb
no discernible road. Why
is one of the horses red,
the sky orange? Why are the spots
on the red horse blotchy
like the white spots in the orange sky?
Are they supposed to be clouds?
Why do children ask why-questions,
and why do we stop asking why-questions
when we become adults?
It’s like, somewhere along the path
(this roadless gully)
someone (or many someones) say
this is it
and we believe them.
Where is that divide
in the non-existent road
between belief
and disbelief? Why does the blue horse
(the one that’s ass backwards)
have small dots
raining down its legs
like a pattern found on woman’s skirt
made in a sweatshop in India?
What else can I ask?
This painting questions everything
I once believed
about colors of sky and horses,
the existence of roads out of gullies,
horses (horses’ asses)
lost in lies.
Originally published in Tofu Ink, 2021
Ekphrastic poem prompt.
What Inspires You
I’m a big fan of prompts and have signed up for resources from many different places, including Poets & Writers, Rattle, Ah the Sea, and River Heron Review. But the best inspiration comes from writing in community. I’m particularly attached to two online generative groups I attend: The Forbes Library Writers Room and Mission Belonging: Write Where You Belong. I try to read at least a poem or two every day and subscribe to the Academy of American Poets Poem A Day, Only Poems, The Slowdown, Rattle Poem of the Day, SWWIM, and Second Coming—though I admit I don’t always read everything that lands in my email box. And I’ve been very psyched to learn from Ellen Bass’s Living Room Talk Series, which provides an impressive wealth of resources, models, and books on craft.
Bio
D. Dina Friedman is the author of two chapbooks: Here in Sanctuary—Whirling (Querencia Press, 2024) and Wolf in the Suitcase (Finishing Line Press). She is also the author of Immigrants (Creators Press, 2023) and two young adult novels: Escaping Into the Night (Simon and Schuster) and Playing Dad’s Song (Farrar Straus Giroux). Dina has published in over one hundred literary journals and received six Pushcart Prizes and two Best of the Net nominations.
Find the Spring 2026 Issue HERE
Previous NPM 2026 poets
| April 1 | Amy Forstadt |
| April 2 | Annette Sisson |
| April 3 | Beth Kanell |
| April 4 | Bonnie Proudfoot |
| April 5 | Charles Stringer |
| April 6 | D. Dina Friedman |