“The Spear-Danes Thank Beowulf for Killing the Monsters” by Dawn Potter

This poem is part of CavanKerry’s series for National Poetry Month.  Every day in April, we post a poem from our community of writers.

The Spear-Danes Thank Beowulf for Killing the Monsters
by Dawn Potter

Eight horses—
heads tossing throats pulsing with sweat
bridles glinting a streak of sun black grey
pied chestnut hooves thudding clattering
a lurch quick shiver of mane
forelock tail cascade of muscle
trembled nose trembled lip
and the hot breath the wild almond eyes—

For you, says the king.

All for you.

Dawn Potter directs the Frost Place Conference on Poetry and Teaching, held each summer at Robert Frost’s home in Franconia, New Hampshire. She works as a visiting writer in the schools and as a freelance editor for literary and academic presses.

Dawn is the author or editor of seven books of prose and poetry. Same Old Story, her most recent poetry collection, was a nominee for the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Award for Poetry. Her memoir, Tracing Paradise: Two Years in Harmony with John Milton, won the 2010 Maine Literary Award in Nonfiction, and she has also received grants and fellowships from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Writer’s Center, and the Maine Arts Commission. Her poems and essays have appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal, the Sewanee Review, the Threepenny Review, and many other journals in the United States and abroad.