Cut Out For It by Kay Ryan

Cut out
as a horse
is cut
from the
pack. Peeled
off, but
a long time
back. Now
such a feeling
for the way
they touch
and shift
as one, the
beauty when
they run.

Analysis

The first stanza emphasizes the idea of separation from a natural form: "cut from the pack".  The repetition of "cut" tells the reader that the separation was forced, and not a choice. The selection of horse is important, as it most likely deals with the domestication of animals.

The second stanza picks off from the first by reinforcing this unnatural separation by using the phrase "peeled off" as in, peeled off from the track. Ryan also tells us that this happened a "long time back", indicating that this separation might not even be remembered.

The third stanza is placed in the present, and shows a new bond, different from what nature had intended. The tone shifts here as well, in the first two stanzas the tone was somewhat regretful but reconciled to the facts of what had happened, but here the tone suggests a sense of awe. This is conveyed through the selected diction in the stanza, such as: "such a feeling"and "touch and shift as one". These lines suggest that the new partnership is that of horse and rider. The last three lines in this stanza is a rhyme. "As one, the beauty when they run". This ending seems to justify the domestication of horses, in honor of a new relationship and the word "beauty" suggest a form of harmony.

This poem speaks to the formation of a bond between man and horse, and Ryan shows her own personal feelings on the subject in the last rhyme of the poem. Kay Ryan used to ride horses as a child, it is very likely that she is writing this poem in response to memories of riding horses in her youth.