Pink nostrils flaring wide
Angrily
Snort steam into the frigid air
Long blond pigtails flying
Blue ribbons twirling in mid air
The staccato rhythm of her horse's hooves
Beating as fast as her heart !
Mama will be angry, the washing's not done
Cyprian will be furious with her for stealing his prize filly
Out of the barn at dawn
And Papa will surely beat her.
Already she hears Dmitri calling her in the distance !
She digs leather bootheels
into Kobylka's smooth flanks,
And grabs her black mane
Shouting encouragement !
Little Pyotr waves across the dirt arena,
Shrieking with joy
It is a good day
For a Cossack girl to ride.
YOU ARE READING
Kobylka: a day in the life of a Cossack girl
PoetryA day in the life of a young woman and her three brothers growing up in a Cossack village, twenty years before the Russian Revolution.
