poem On a High Horse Like This, a poem about trying to keep your morals when you have the high ground, By Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers

f poem On a High Horse Like This, a poem about trying to keep your morals when you have the high ground, By Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

See this YouTube video
(2:23) live 05/11/11 at “Elizabeth’s Crazy Little Thing” Chicago open mic

Watch this YouTube video

read live in the show “hmmm” 11/20/11 at the Café open mike in Chicago

Watch this YouTube video

of the entire Janet Kuypers show “hmm” live 11/20/11 at the Café open mike in Chicago

Watch this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “On a High Horse Like This” at the Café Mestizo open mic 1/21/12, with music & video from the HA!man of South Africa (Francois Le Roux) in Chicago (this video was posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Upstage Everyone Else” and “On a High Horse Like This” at the Café Mestizo open mic 1/21/12, with music & video from the HA!man of South Africa (Francois Le Roux) in Chicago (this video was posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video
of Kuypers reading this poem 3/18/13 at the Frankenstone art center in Chicago (Canon)

See YouTube video
of Kuypers performing 5 poems (including this one) in a poetry reading to “Make people Think” 3/18/13 at Chicago’s Frankenstone art center (this video was filmed from a Canon camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem On a High Horse Like This (in the chapbook “Attacking with Poetry”) 4/27/14 at Chicago’s 2014 Poetry Bomb in Lincoln Square (filmed from a Canon camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoem #janetkuyperspoetrybomb

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem On a High Horse Like This (in the chapbook “Attacking with Poetry”) 4/27/14 (C) at Chicago’s 2014 Poetry Bomb (in Lincoln Square), Threshold

See YouTube video
of Janet Kuypers reading her poem On a High Horse Like This from her book Bon Voyage! live 7/25/15 on Chicago’s WZRD 88.3 FM radio (Cfs)

See YouTube video
of Janet Kuypers reading her poem On a High Horse Like This from her book Bon Voyage! live 7/25/15 on Chicago’s WZRD 88.3 FM radio (Cfs200, FlCrSat)

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems Everything was Alive and Dying and On a High Horse Like This 1/10/16 at the Austin open mic Kick Butt Poetry (this video was filmed from a Canon Power Shot camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems Everything was Alive and Dying and On a High Horse Like This 1/10/16 at the Austin open mic Kick Butt Poetry (this video was filmed from a Nikon Cool Pix S7000 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video (Sony) of Janet Kuypers performing her poem “On a High Horse Like This” in the lotus position for her 8/6/16 show “Thoughts on Peace” at Expressions (of Peace)! in Austin’s the Bahá’í Center.

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers in her 8/6/16 show “Thoughts on Peace” at Expressions (of Peace)! in Austin reading her poem “Queen ISIS (battling for peace)”, then portions of her editorial from cc&d’s v249 book Invisible Ink “Choices We Make”, then her poems “Everything was Alive and Dying (2016 cruelty to animals edition)” and “On a High Horse Like This”, all to rainforest sounds while she sat in the lotus position (video filmed from a Canon Power Shot camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetryshow #janetkuypersfeature

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers in her 8/6/16 show “Thoughts on Peace” at Expressions (of Peace)! in Austin reading her poem “Queen ISIS (battling for peace)”, then portions of her editorial from cc&d’s v249 book Invisible Ink “Choices We Make”, then her poems “Everything was Alive and Dying (2016 cruelty to animals edition)” and “On a High Horse Like This”, accompanied by rainforest sounds, all while sitting in the lotus position (this video was filmed from a Sony camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetryshow

Download all of the show poems in the free PDF file download chapbook
Thoughts on Peace
including her poem “Queen ISIS (battling for peace)”, then portions of her editorial from cc&d’s v249 book Invisible Ink “Choices We Make”, then her poems “Everything was Alive and Dying (2016 cruelty to animals edition)” and “On a High Horse Like This”.

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ June 2017 Book Release Reading 6/7/17, where she read her poems “Everything was Alive and Dying” and “On a High Horse Like This” for her “Bon Voyage!” book reading @ Austin’s Community Poetry at Half Price Books (this video was filmed from a Lumix camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linked in, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ June 2017 Book Release Reading 6/7/17, where she read her poems “Everything was Alive and Dying” and “On a High Horse Like This” for her “Bon Voyage!” book reading @ Austin’s Community Poetry at Half Price Books (this video was filmed from a Sony camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linked in, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers in her 8/5/17 show “Finding Peace” in Austin, with her poems “Protecting Peace can Put you in Prison”, “Really Physically Heal (2017 edit)”, “Keeping the Peace and Coming to Peace”, and “On a High Horse Like This”, w/ music from the HA!Man of South Africa’ “Wayward Waltz of the Skewed Mind”, + cricket sounds (Sony camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperspoetryshow>

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers in her 8/5/17 show “Finding Peace” in Austin, with her poems “Protecting Peace can Put you in Prison”, “Really Physically Heal (2017 edit)”, “Keeping the Peace and Coming to Peace”, and “On a High Horse Like This”, w/ music from the HA!Man of South Africa’ “Wayward Waltz of the Skewed Mind”, + cricket sounds (Lumix camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperspoetryshow

Download all of the poems from the free chapbook
“Finding Peace”
of the poems she performed in her 8/5/17 “Finding Peace” poetry feature/show, including both classic and new poems “Protecting Peace can Put you in Prison”, “Really Physically Heal (2017 edit)”, “Keeping the Peace and Coming to Peace”, and “On a High Horse Like This”.

video See YouTube video from 12/9/17 of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “on the Bridge”, then her poems “Upstage Everyone Else” & “On a High Horse Like This” from her book “Let me See You Stripped” at the “Poetry Aloud” open mic at the Georgetown Public Library (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video from 12/9/17 of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “on the Bridge”, then her poems “Upstage Everyone Else” & “On a High Horse Like This” from her book “Let me See You Stripped” at the “Poetry Aloud” open mic at the Georgetown Public Library (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ March 2018 Book Release Reading 3/7/18, where she read her cc&d 3/18 book “The False Portrait” haiku poem “escape”, and then her “Finding Peace” performance art poems “Protecting Peace can Put you in Prison” “Really Physically Heal (2017 edit)”, “Keeping the Peace and Coming to Peace” and “On a High Horse Like This” in Community Poetry @ Half Price Books (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperspoetryshow #janetkuypersbookreading

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ March 2018 Book Release Reading 3/7/18, where she read her cc&d 3/18 book “The False Portrait” haiku poem “escape”, and then her “Finding Peace” performance art poems “Protecting Peace can Put you in Prison” “Really Physically Heal (2017 edit)”, “Keeping the Peace and Coming to Peace” and “On a High Horse Like This” in Community Poetry @ Half Price Books (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetryshow #janetkuypersbookreading

See YouTube video 3/17/18 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Protecting Peace can Put you in Prison” and “On a High Horse Like This” from the cc&d 3/18 book “The False Portrait”, then covering the R.E.M. song “You Are The Everything” with John playing his mandolin live at “Recycled Reads” open mic (from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).
See YouTube video 3/17/18 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Protecting Peace can Put you in Prison” and “On a High Horse Like This” from the cc&d 3/18 book “The False Portrait”, then covering the R.E.M. song “You Are The Everything” with John playing his mandolin live at “Recycled Reads” open mic (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera).

See YouTube video from 8/1/18 of Janet Kuypers’ August 2018 Book Release Reading, where she read her “Finding Peace” performance art poems “Protecting Peace can Put you in Prison”, “Really Physically Heal (2017 edit)”, “Keeping the Peace and Coming to Peace”, and “On a High Horse Like This” from the book “Not a Trace” in Community Poetry @ Half Price Books (P L T56).

See YouTube video from 8/1/18 of Janet Kuypers’ August 2018 Book Release Reading, where she read her “Finding Peace” performance art poems “Protecting Peace can Put you in Prison”, “Really Physically Heal (2017 edit)”, “Keeping the Peace and Coming to Peace”, and “On a High Horse Like This” fvrom the book “Not a Trace” in Community Poetry @ Half Price Books (P L 2500).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ interview on Chicago’s WZRD Radio (88.3 FM) 9/22/18, where she also read her poems “Ocean’s Call to Dive” and “Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet” from her “Antarctica: Wildlife” book, and later read her poem “On a High Horse Like This” from her book “On the Edge” (WZRD’s 2nd half audio; video, Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ interview on Chicago’s WZRD Radio (88.3 FM) 9/22/18, where she also read her poems “Ocean’s Call to Dive” and “Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet” from her “Antarctica: Wildlife” book, and later read her poem “On a High Horse Like This” from her book “On the Edge” (WZRD’s 2nd half audio; video, Panasonic Lumix 2500; Hue Cycle).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ interview on Chicago’s WZRD Radio (88.3 FM) 9/22/18, where she also read her poems “Ocean’s Call to Dive” and “Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet” from her “Antarctica: Wildlife” book, and later read her poem “On a High Horse Like This” from her book “On the Edge” (WZRD’s 2nd half audio; video, Panasonic Lumix 2500l; Sepia Tone).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ interview on Chicago’s WZRD Radio (88.3 FM) 9/22/18, where she also read her poems “Ocean’s Call to Dive” and “Visiting Pristine Places on the Planet” from her “Antarctica: Wildlife” book, and later read her poem “On a High Horse Like This” from her book “On the Edge” (WZRD’s 2nd half audio; video, Panasonic Lumix 2500; B&W).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “One By one, the Beech Trees Fell” and “Human Construct of Time” from the v5 cc&d boss lady poetry collection book “On the Edge”, “The Moon” and “The State of the Nation” from her poetry performance art collection book “Chapter 48 (v1)”, “yearning to break free” from her poetry performance art collection book “Chapter 48 (v2)”, and “On a High Horse Like This” from her interview/journal/poetry book “In Depth”, all read to “all fall down” Hotel Music from the HA!Man of South Africa, live at the final “Fort to Famous” open mic 10/22/18 @ Austin’s The Buzz Mill (this video was recorded from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “One By one, the Beech Trees Fell” and “Human Construct of Time” from the v5 cc&d boss lady poetry collection book “On the Edge”, “The Moon” and “The State of the Nation” from her poetry performance art collection book “Chapter 48 (v1)”, “yearning to break free” from her poetry performance art collection book “Chapter 48 (v2)”, and “On a High Horse Like This” from her interview/journal/poetry book “In Depth”, all read to “all fall down” Hotel Music from the HA!Man of South Africa, live at the final “Fort to Famous” open mic 10/22/18 @ Austin’s The Buzz Mill (this video was recorded from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).

See YouTube video 11/17/18 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Everything was Alive and Dying” and “On a High Horse Like This” from her interview/journal/poetry book “In Depth” at “Recycled Reads” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video 11/17/18 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Everything was Alive and Dying” and “On a High Horse Like This” from her interview/journal/poetry book “In Depth” at “Recycled Reads” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ December 2018 Book Release Reading 12/5/18, where she read her haiku poems “oil”, “quarrel”, “judge”, and “rush”, and then her poems “Knew I Had to be Ready” and “On a High Horse Like This”, all from the Scars Publications 2018 collection book “Natural Light” during Community Poetry at Half Price Books (P L2500).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers’ December 2018 Book Release Reading 12/5/18, where she read her haiku poems “oil”, “quarrel”, “judge”, and “rush”, and then her poems “Knew I Had to be Ready” and “On a High Horse Like This”, all from the Scars Publications 2018 collection book “Natural Light” during Community Poetry at Half Price Books (P L 2500; Posterize).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Only find our Roots”, “Versus Eating Death Daily” and “on a High Horse Like This” from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” live 9/24/20 during the Virtual Austin Poetry Society New World Poetry open mic (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Only find our Roots”, “Versus Eating Death Daily” and “on a High Horse Like This” from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” live 9/24/20 during the Virtual Austin Poetry Society New World Poetry open mic (streamed from a Samsung S9 camera).

See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her animal rights-themed poems “Last Before Extinction”, “Everything Was Alive And Dying (12/8/19 studio TV show recording)”, and “On a High Horse Like This” from the cyberwit.net 137-page 5½" x 8½" Janet Kuypers poetry book “Eternal Never Ending Now” for “The Café Gallery 3/9/21 Book Reading” in The Café Gallery Book Reading series (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her animal rights-themed poems “Last Before Extinction”, “Everything Was Alive And Dying (12/8/19 studio TV show recording)”, and “On a High Horse Like This” from the cyberwit.net 137-page 5½" x 8½" Janet Kuypers book “Eternal Never Ending Now” for “The Café Gallery 3/9/21 Book Reading” in The Café Gallery Book Reading series 2020+ (this video was filmed and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery

On a High Horse Like This
Janet Kuypers
02/22/11
I listened to a hunter from Africa
say
“all life is sacred”
and he said that after separating
a small, thin, non-venomous snake
from around a large African hawk-like bird’s neck
because you see, the bird attacks snakes,
but that snake couldn’t eat the large bird once it died:
that would have been a senseless death.
“all life is sacred,” you say.
so I couldn’t help but think:
as a hunter, do you pray for the sacred dead
after you killed it?
I mean, I don’t usually vocalize
when I’m on a high horse like this
and I’ve had to explain myself
to meat eaters:
no these aren’t leather shoes
I wear; I’m a vegetarian.
though I still have to feign a smile
to commiserate with men eating slaughtered
animal. cause you see, I’d look like a fool
for having beliefs. people don’t want to hear about
a moral choice different from their own.
I mean, we’re Americans,
if it’s not human,
or maybe a dog or a cat, eat it. it’s that simple.
###
but I married a hunter
a marine who served our country
and he told me
that every time he killed an animal
a part of him felt a regretful twinge of pain
when he killed his prey.
the prey that he searched for.
with a weapon he could use
before anything got close enough
to be an enemy.
oh, I’m sorry.
I’m getting on my high horse again.
it’s convenient that people
can get their kill from the grocery store
without getting any blood
on their hands.
anything to stop everyone from thinking
about what they’re doing.
because I’ve heard that killing something
makes you feel something.
And I thought:

Copyright © 2011 Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.

my hand to an anim of jkchair