Poem of the Week: ‘Night’ by Toby Martinez de las Rivas

This week, our Faber Poem of the Week is ‘Night’, from Toby Martinez de las Rivas’s poetry collection, Floodmeadow.

Night

I dreamt a horse in the night like a running god
across a field fringed with trees;
the night like a room shaking with stars
& the dark trees swaying
as it ran through the night to the sound
of thunder; & as it ran it turned
to look back over the meat
of its shoulder; turned its slow head towards
me swaying, the field fringed
with trees – a copper beech turning silver
in the stars & the lime a spread cloak,
& a darker line at the fringe
of trees you could not see beyond.
In the horse’s eye a candle burned as it turned
its head toward me swaying; turned
its slow head towards me;
then it was gone with the thunder rolling
through the earth & its voice
crying across the field as the candle flickered
in the dark spaces between the trees
& went out. Love, do not turn
your face away from us. Do not turn your face.

Copyright © Toby Martinez de las Rivas, 2023. Used by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd. All rights reserved.

Read all our poems of the week.