strangely human

Galloping Horse, by Xu Beihong, 1944

Galloping Horse, by Xu Beihong, 1944

Today's artist, Xu Beihong, China, (1895-1953), was known for his ink paintings of horses and birds, but was also seen as one of the first to create oil paintings with epic Chinese themes. For some reason, horses have often visited my dreams, and Xu's paintings particularly remind me of the horses I've met.  

equine dreams

Nothing in the grey-shaded
wakefulness of a grown life  
can ever be quite so alive,
spirited, joyous and red, 
so wantonly and purely not
dead, as the sometime welling
in a dream

      of the old, convivial, flying horse:

trotting, cantering, galloping, 
an airborne steed—
she grins, winks, then pivots,
as if once a shivering primal breed,
to rear, abandon herself, 
to sheer whole-body laughter,
   
     uncanny,
             beastly, 
                    strangely 
                             human,

over absolutely nothing
and even less than that.