Old Horse Dreaming

Old horse near the fence

Runs wild in dreams


Old Horse Dreaming

I noticed the old horse and stopped along the road
He came to the fence when he saw me, breathing whispers in the cold
As he neared, he stumbled in the mud,
Knees buckling, then righting themselves.

Does he dream of roaming free, running through fields,
Lungs full of the scent of wildflowers, splashing through creeks,
Sunrise at his back?
I do.

Day Shoes, Sketch 068

Sketch of the day shoes

Looks like something I’d wear

1840-1849; American; cotton, leather

1840-1849; American; cotton, leather

Description from the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

While fancy evening shoes were saved in abundance, surviving day shoes are relatively scarce. The leather tip and foxing of these tie shoes was a common style for daywear in the 1840s, and renders an otherwise flimsy and thin shoe more serviceable. The self-patterned cotton provides an interesting textural contrast with the leather. Neutral colors such as tan, brown, and the dull mauve seen here, were favored at the time.

Sketch 068: (Day) Shoes; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of the Jason and Peggy Westerfield Collection, 1969