Be my noble horse, and I will be your skillful rider; be you mare
or stallion, we will see the world together. I wish to feel the pull
of wind, grab your meadowsweet mane, watch your tail fly;
when we fall forward, we’ll see all the land race by.

None can catch us, we are like the sea, unable
to be held; the spirits will all wave us off: “Farewell. Godspeed.”
You’ll cut the earth, and I’ll lean against you, and swell
my chest to breathe you, squeeze your leather tight,

as one we’ll catch the dawn, and yank the sun
down from the sky. So then we’ll live the dusk, and move
as planets in the night, lit like fire, your scorching hooves,
a comet streaking along the darken stretch in sturdy stride.

Tame the hills, scar the valleys, uproot the leas; we’ll strike
out our mark in the blink of an eye. Any ill will that may
befall us, we will fend off, because you can bolt like no other.
Between the trees you will dart, and I’ll praise you with

a jolted kiss –

could there be any greater joy than this? I’d damn the vastest
mountains, damn the hungriest packs of wolves, damn
the thunderous rivers before I’d doubt your deftly hoofs; appaloosa,
carry me to the ends of the earth, and we’ll have that horizon.