Platero and Other Beasts of Burden

In Platero and Other Beasts of Burden, Wayne McNeil weaves a quiet tapestry of tenderness, memory, and endurance through the humble figure of the donkey Platero, and the quiet strength of other creatures who carry more than their weight through the world. Drawing inspiration from Juan Ramón Jiménez's beloved Platero y yo, this collection is both homage and departure: a meditation on grief, gentleness, and the burdens we inherit and choose.Through lyric poems and spare, luminous imagery, McNeil explores the soft places where the body remembers what the mind forgets, and where beasts, be they animal or human, find their way through sorrow, joy, and silence. These poems do not shout; they walk beside you.With compassion and clarity, Platero and Other Beasts of Burden invites you to slow down, to listen, and to consider the quiet lives that carry us sometimes unnoticed toward healing.