another horse

Zorro

Zorro by Maria Marriott, Pine Nut Mountains, Nevada

Today's art is from Maria Marriott, who specializes in photographing wild horses. Her gorgeous photos can be seen here. 

Back in December, my post, strangely human, featured another poem about a horse in a dream called equine dreams. Check it out if you are so inclined, link following. I suppose this one is a companion piece to that.  


houses vs. horses

Either I dream of houses 
or, to trade a letter, horses. 

One last night,
the nighttime, star-time thrill 
of snow-buried, bareback 
riding along a cliff side,
mounting with grace,
gripping, with ease,
her muscular frame, 
reveling in a daring, 
a prowess, that
the light of morning 
only slowly dispels.

And so distant it was 
from the houses: 

shadowy dwellings, 
bereft of hearth, 
ice-fogged labyrinths, 
gloom-flooded halls, 
unseeing windows, 
and watery eyes that glare 
from waylaying faces 
that besiege the dawn. 

Mere dreams, I ask— 
a house, a horse,
what choice but 
the wavering lineaments 
of faith in mystery. 

Yet knowing still 
the girl that 
spurs my day: 
on the cliff side, 
her woolly coat 
like a sheep’s,
keeping me warm, 
taking me somewhere,
letting me stay.

strangely human