Going off ground into
The softness of a ******* dream,
My lips part the ethereal plane
And I taste the
Condensed atmosphere,
Sweet and salty on the tongue
As I possess freedom
Only known to the wind,
Galloping rhythm and sound,
Falling and rising,
Suspended in moment,
Pulsing in my veins,
Echoing exhilaration,
I am whole with the all
Astride my horse!
Completely at liberty--
No bit,
No reins,
No saddle,
No Spurs--
Hands entwined in mane,
I am rushing and flying,
Lost to time,
Just his spine rocking my hips,
Back and forth,
Delightful unison,
Sinew and flesh bare,
Muscles rippling beneath me,
Skin quivering,
Warm and desperate,
For my legs to embrace
Heart and lungs
Supporting and encouraging
Every heavy breath,
The powerful magnetism
Consuming me,
Carrying me,
Connecting me,
And I know you:
Every pore,
Every pulse,
Every thought,
United and carefree
You are my strength,
You are my lightness,
You are my ease,
You are my relaxation,
With the sureness of
A ******* dream,
Every slivered-moon stamp
Of hooves crushing spices
Is an extension of me,
Mine to ask,
Of undying loyal,
Generous spirit
Just as infinity
Comes to rest,
There is understanding,
There is love.

Inhale,
Quiet mind, soft eyes,
Exhale,
Open heart, gentle blow,
Nostrils wide,
Soft as violets against
My lips three puffs,
Breath warm and sweet,
You speak in silence,
“I am as you
Everywhere
And always,"
Inherent beauty,
Elegance and grace,
Power and mystery.
You are the radiance
Of clarity remembered
Connection,
Right here,
Right now,
In the present moment.
Inhale,
Strength of chaos,
Exhale,
Sensitivity of flow,
Breaths synchronizing,
In and out,
We plunge into the void,
Suspended in space,
A world unfurling dreaming:
A pause,
Boundless time
In timeless space,
A stillness,
Motion patterns
Thoughts motionless,
A calm,
Quiet wisdom fulfills
Joy and blissfulness,
A release,
Blissful nature is mindfulness.
Inhale,
Words inside my mind,
Exhale,
Life uncensored and bare,
Duality,
Breath pushing away,
Softly pulling me in,
Gradually,
Breath fades into the other--
Push and pull
Eternally,
Breath after breath,
Pushing pulling unbroken
A long deep sigh…
Inhale,
The original beginning,
Exhale,
The Way Of The Horse,
Innate nature settles,
Life destiny resides,
To dawn a dusk,
To light a dark,
Soft and understanding,
My heart effortlessly accepts
Your essence,
The only oxygen I breathe.

The dark horse
Rides hard
Dappled and w
                         e
                         t
Over the night sky
Tonight from my tears.
His fur is
Velvet and black,
A shiver on
The twilight b
                       r
                       e
                       e
                       z
                       e.
Flowing on clouds
His mane and tail
Foam the horizon.
And as he gallops
Across the midnight blue
The twinkling s
                          t
                          a
       ­                   r
                          s
Spark and light
Silk and stardust
Trails in his wake.

Though my soul has set
In this nightfall,
Hollow and alone,
Now that you
Are here no l
                     o
                     n
                     g
                     e
                     r
I look above the
Dark horse skyline
To the dust of light
Shimmering and glinting
And see every little
Star a m
           e
           m
           o
           r
           y
Precious and dear.

Infinite stars,
Infinite memories.
Each more beautiful
and radiant than the last,
Just like y
               o
               u
Though your light has faded
you will glow immortal
in my heart and in the sky
with faith
with l
         o
         v
         e
with hope.

Your spirit is now
wild and unbound,
free and complete
on silver w
                i
                n
                g
                s
gracefull­y painted on
the flank of the dark horse
of the night sky.

I may miss you
with every beat
of my h
           e
           a
           r
           t
sighing and breaking,
but I know
the dark horse
will bring you to me
again every night
in the stars of
his hoofprints g
                          a
                          l
       ­                   l
                         o
                         p
                         i
                        n
                        g
across the Heavens.

His stars connect us.
Keep shining for me.
Above and over me.

In the eyes of horses
Memories spiral as stars
Of remote skies with
Every bat of their lashes
Stardust realms appear and
I'm lost to the intense
Beauty of that instant--
That millisecond
Of perfection over naturally
Deep set orbits:
        So soft and so gentle,
        So mild and so calm,
        So wise and so clear,
        So wild and so tame,
        So lovely and so wonderful,
        So full and so bright.

In the eyes of horses
Wet glistening radiance
Dances with heartbeats,
Love seeping into soul
Every nicker, neigh, and nuzzle
A pulsar of vibrant life:
        Captivating me,
        Tempting me,
        Engaging me,
        Reflecting me,
        Melting me,
       And evaporating me.

In the eyes of horses
Silently in dark paths of
Secret places and spheroidal bodies
Flattened behind a sweet
Abyss--endless depths and
Fathomless pools of innocence--
Of colored irises pure
Against the full ink darkness
Of elliptic pupil black holes:
        Shades of dawn,
        Shades of dusk,
        Ambers,
        Chocolates,
        Blues,
        ­And greys.

In the eyes of horses
Burnished moonbeams
Ripple on mirrored lakes
Swirling liquefied
Rays of galaxies and
Constellations circling
An eclipse echoing distant
Stars breaking:
        Earthen and warm,
        Hearth and home,
        Embrace and hold,
        Defend and protect.

In the eyes of horses
Where all of space seems to rest
Retinas burn a shining light
Brightening my dark mattered
Skies night and day
Are lost amongst the cosmic fray:
        Love galaxies,
        Vast, deep, complex
        Hope stars,
        Beauty, grace, blessing
        Miracle universes,
        Strong, brave, valor.

In the eyes of horses,
Collapsing and fading out
With the rise and fall
Of lidded blinks
Reaching desperately
Holding mane intertwined
Intricate stories lace passing
In tendrils between fingertips
My soul search is complete:
        Feel me
        Fill me
        Swallow me
        Lost me
        Found me.

The enchantment entices:
The cheerful music,
The beaming lights,
And all the pretty
Painted carousel horses,
Gossamer white and silver,
Dappled and glossy black
All riding in a       IR
                          C          C
                       ­         EL
Of whimsical imagination
And magical reality.

F A D I N G
Into a dystopia of
A  F
        L
           E
              E
                 T
                    I
                       N
                          G reality,
The lifelong dream becomes
Frozen in time:
Consuming being, soul, and all.

Here I am a carousel horse
T  
          W
                   I
          S
T
         E
                  D
In unnatural poses with
Artificial  S                S
                    M        ­ E
                         I  L
Richly bedazzled with
Ribbons and flowers:
A hand painted
Superb work of ART!
I prance on a brass pole,
Stiff and spellbound,
To an eerie tinkling tune in
A
           D
               I
                  Z
               Z
            Y
               I
                  N
                       G  parade with no destination.
Every day is carefully constructed,
Merely going through
The motions:
      P     and      D
                          O
      U                 W
                          N.

Everything is cold and bitter,
A 1950's film Noir:
My grey-scale fear envelops me
In a dark void of plastic,
an impending sense of doom
as a stationary effigy...

Slowly I awaken
To a breath of    L
                                I
                                F
                            E
A touch that ignites my heart to B          A
                                                    ­           E           T:
I am more than a carousel horse!

My bright paint chips and F
                                                  L
           ­                                          A
                                                        K
     ­                                                      E
                                                              S­  off like snow.
As warmth kisses me tenderly
With            F
                  L
              E   ­                 S  C
           S                  U            L
        H    and    M          ­          E
Hope, love, and forgiveness
Radiate from my body:
       S     and       P
       T                  O
       R                  W
       E                  E
       N                 R.
       G
       T
       H

I    E
     M
     B
     RACE my imperfections and                        
****, I am B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L!
I loose my bolts,
Abandon my pole,
A strident whinny escapes my lips:
I AM F       R        E        E!
I AM
         A
         L
         I
         V                                                          I
    ­     E                                           L       W     N               
Through my veins blood is  F        O              G!
My eyes are afire
Glowing bright with the                           Y
Undying flame of purpose!                  K
I toss my silky mane and tail to the S
With a  J       Y
                 O    none can tame!
With forceful leaps I
G A L L O P,   C        T       and  T     O        
                             AN    ER,            R      T
With natural poise
            V  E
     O               R
Cotton candy clouds.
I run toward worthy life
Where countless dawns break
Simultaneously in
    R
    A
    W,
           R
           E
           A
           L,
                 F
                 E
                 E
                 L
                 I
                 N
                 G  never to return!

Equuleus,
Little horse of light,
Imaginings have spilled
From the sky an eerie
Whisper of a heart
Forlorn and withered cold.
Easily bent and silenced
Spent neighs echo,
Mellow and muted,
Like copper on the wind.
Sad implosions have left
An empty and frail
Thin horse standing
Motionless in infinity.
Your stillness
Is that of mere
Stars remote and candid,
Absent and distant,
Full of sunken sorrow on
Pale skin stretched
Over points of bare bones.
Your body is nothing...
Disappearing and folding,
You are a mystic illusion,
A constellation:
Emaciated tendrils of
Thoughts hanging breath,
Faded and dying,
Midnight lights render
Memories swallowed by
A black hole
Of a despair shivering
Dread in dreams.

Equuleus,
Little horse of light,
In the infinite frigid
Stretch of of space,
My kindred stars,
Know my heart!
That with subsistence
And sustenance
Of calculated cognizant
Vestiges of time,
The glow of dreams,
Unfaltering and ubiquitous
Can be pursued,
Glistening beyond
The event horizon and
Pull of gravity!
You needn't a bright
Star to your name!
With hopeful trots alone
Toward enduring vicissitudes,
Even a constellation
So small and dim,
Can be a celestial
Rumbling majesty
Flying and galloping,
A divine horse reborn:
Racing grandly across,
The horizon with Pegasus,
Stardust pouring forth
From a body bound in
Radiant white beams
Seen from light years away!
You will rise
In passionate fervor!
You will set
In glittering glory!
You will be a force
None can tame,
Not even the
Northern night sky,
A mighty mansion
Of stars twinkling in
Elegance and transience
Until the dawn!
You will be the Heavenly
Spectra for all of
Earth below to behold!

I am strength steeled
With radiating presence,
Inspiration and imagination,
Flowing in four beat rhythms.
With thoughts undiluted pure
As intention with heart up
Noble and selfless
Gazing out so vast, so open,
With shoulders square,
I am taken in lightness,
Suspended with zero tension
At the the beginning,
Into a new world where
My hooves alternate in unity--
Human and equine blending
With every inhale, exhale:
Relaxation and calm,
Enlightenment and balance,
Confidence and security.
I relinquish licking and chewing
To this envoy of trust,
This emissary of hope,
The surety of myself--
In all my belief in you
TAKING THE LEAD
With a velvet focused voice
Directing my strides,
Enunciated kinesic Morse code
To my vision affirms
My paths of decisions,
And a soft, yet firm caress,
As if a blade of verdant grass
Gently tickles my ribs
In delightful encouragement,
I move with togetherness,
Connection and partnership.
I am with you.