How to Triumph Like a Girl

“Downhearted” by Ada Limón (2011)

In this poem Limón relays the story of “Six horses [that] died in a tractor-trailer fire.” She writes that her heart is like a woman curled up on “the floor / of the torso” with sadness over the loss of the horses. It is one of several poems in which horses appear and in which Limón explores with tenderness her connection to the natural world, and her grief over its destruction.

“The Carrying” by Ada Limón (2017)

This is the titular poem of Limón’s follow-up to Bright Dead Things. In “The Carrying” she paints a picture of what it is like to live in Kentucky and again to identify with a female horse. Unlike in “How to Triumph Like a Girl” this poem is more somber, as she compares herself to a female horse who is pregnant while she remains childless. This poem shows Limón’s dexterity as a writer, and the way her tone as well as the use of the horse as a metaphor evolves over time.

“Service” by Ada Limón (2015)

In “Service” Limón depicts a scene where, on a road trip with a now ex-boyfriend, she stops to use the restroom.