POEMS
by SALLY STANCIL
Gary
Stevens is renowned as a jockey
Who is bold with a burning desire;
And as you stand in his presence,
You sense there the passion and fire.
Yes deep within lies a stirring,
An ardor not easy to hide,
For it hardly takes inner perception
To detect his devotion to ride.
Yet though he has stood at the apex
And captured the spoils of his game,
He still seeks new summits to master
With a fervor remaining to the same.
His talents and giftings are many
And there’s depth in this man of reflection,
But his skills as a horse racing jockey
Have been honed to an artist’s perfection.
So, I pray Lord your love will surround him,
For I’ve witnessed the zeal in his eyes;
Send your angels to guard and protect him,
As he soars through the wind and the skies.
Sally
Stancil
Copyright
2005
There’s
a splendor and still regal majesty
In the sport to which Kings once laid claim;
And though it has spanned countless ages,
Chords strike of a lasting refrain.
Expectations arise in the paddock
As the Thoroughbreds advance to the fore;
Their breeding a mark of distinction,
With courage and strength at the core.
The sound of the bugler’s rich fanfare,
Signals warriors are entering the track,
While the colorful silks of the jockeys
Give pause as the mind travels back:
Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Unbridled,
Arcaro, Shoemaker and Day,
The horses and riders whose passions breathed
life
To a world where you’re longing to stay.
For here in this royal arena
Dreams ascend to take flight,
Heartening runners on to the conquest
In a tribute to valor and might.
Thus the Noblest of Sports will entice you
To share in a King’s vast domain,
Adding treasures of lore to your coffers
And memories which will ever remain.
Sally
Stancil
Copyright
2005
A
Horse Evens the Score
By
Job, at last the dream had come true,
Dumping Mike Smith right out of the gate,
Feeling my oats the racetrack was mine
With no one to tell me to rate.
My chance to repay the jockeys,
Whose whips had been stinging my hide;
With a gleam in the eye I set on my course
To give them their most dreaded ride.
Target one was the great Jerry Bailey
And I scored as he had to take back,
Cause I pulled out in front, then practically
stopped,
Putting him at the back of the pack.
All down the track I bobbled and weaved,
Ears pricked through the ruckus and fuss.
The jockeys not knowing what I would do next,
I loved how they’d holler and cuss.
In the stretch once again I caused havoc,
Angling left to bump into Pat Day,
You should have seen the fire in his eyes
When he failed to stay out of my way.
Yes, that was the day I brought down the greats
–
Velazquez, Desormeaux and Stevens,
Knowing full well the moment was mine
When this horse turned the odds into evens.
Sally
Stancil
Copyright
2005
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