Sadie Cummings in Memory of Eight Bells
Eight Bells, a filly, came in second in the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May 2008. After she crossed the finish line, she broke both fetlocks and had to be put down. Sadie Cummings, also a filly and a race horse, broke down the same way. This poem commenorates Sadie and Eight Bells.
Sadie Cummings
She snorted and pranced
when her hooves touched the sand
and we’re off
with me in a two-point
and her in full gallop
through shallow water
the spray salting my face
the two of us in raucous rhythm.
We would have gone on forever.
The rocks at the seawall forced a halt.
She died at the track
put down after she broke her leg trying.
This poem is from I Want to Show You: A Memoir in Poems, available as a Kindle
book or at http://www.lulu.com/content/2350136
