She Had Some Horses

There are many different places where there is evidence that Joy Harjo is referring to the "horses" as emotions. In the third stanza she talks about, "horses who danced in their mother's arms." When I read that, it made me think of a little girl dancing around with her mother. Also, when she writes, "she had horses who were much too shy, and kept quiet in stalls of their own making," it makes me think of a young girl in gradeschool sitting alone as all the other little girls are lauging and giggling in a circle.

Harjo displays more than just emotions in this stanza, she displays what seems to be vices. I say vices because some little girls are too shy and it sometimes inhibits their interaction with others. These vices of keeping their voice to themselves continues into the stanza which states, "She had horses who called themselves, "spirit", and kept their voices secret and to themselves." On that note, I feel that the "spirit" is implied to be a female, only because males used to always have to upper hand on women (especially their own wives) and so women did not have much of an opinion, let alone a voice to stand up for themselves.

I believe that the clear truth is vivid. She throws out gruesome words such as rape, hated, destruction, knives, blood, and licking razor blades. I believe that is the harsh reality of emotions and thoughts in some females heads. These words, if acted on or out, then they stick in a persons head to haunt them for years.

The end of the poem brings it to a simple close. She has some emotions she have loved and some others that she has hated. She has had some vises that have been good and bad. Finaly, there has been some memories that have been loved and cherished and others have been hated and gruesome.