HORSES

 

My mother would say

"If wishes were horses

Then beggars would ride"

Bareback, I think;

Where would a beggar

Find money for a saddle?

Modest beggars might

Have one horse; small

And able to get by

On next to nothing. 

Some beggars, though,

Wish with every breath;

Mighty herds

Would trail after them

Stirring up clouds of dust

Until the great men in coaches

Coughed and groaned

"If only there were fewer horses!"

And made things worse.