Alan Peat

A Foreign Country

I remember the sweat ‘n leather smell of the horse’s brown back; how we built it from five numbered pieces; how I failed to leap it’s faux-equine length. I remember black canvas plimsolls and elastic-waisted nylon shorts; and the girl who sat by the running track beside me.

a bell
ends each lesson —
strange  now
as the softest 
of watches

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About the Author

Alan Peat is a UK-based poet and author. His work has featured in Frogpond, Mayfly, Heliosparrow, The Heron’s Nest, Presence, Hedgerow, and Blithe Spirit, among others. He was runner-up in the 2021 British Haiku Society’s Ken and Norah Jones Haibun Award and won a Touchstone Award for Individual Haibun 2022.

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