She Had Some Horses

In the first stanza of this poem the speaker seems to be comparing her "horses" to various aspect of American Indian life and history. The maps drawn with blood could be referring to the blood that was shed when colonists began forcing the American Indians out of their home territories (trail of tears etc.) Also, the blue skies, the fur and teeth, and the red cliffs bring to mind American Indian culture. The second stanza gets a little more obscure, the line "She had horses with eyes of trains." is tricky. Does this mean that she has seen the trains with her eyes? It almost gives the impression that the trains have been absorbed by the culture, that the culture of the oppressors has been assimiliated into the American Indian culture. Another line that stuck out was, "She had horses that were much too shy, and kept quiet in stalls of their own making." These could represent the speakers feelings that remain unexpressed. I honestly don't know what to make of the line about praying while raping. The only mouse I can drop is that the pioneers who raped and pillaged the lands of the American Indians also established missionaries and used religion to "civilize" the natives. This could explain the praying during rape. I think the closing lines help to clarify the meaning of the poem. These lines tell the reader that the horses are abstractions. She has horses she hates and horses she loves, and these are the same horses. This tells the reader that each horse can have multiple meanings.