The Horse that Loved Me

I danced with my woman on the sloping roof of the barn.
Twirling and laughing together under the bright moon.
Close in the warm night —
And the horse that loved us longed to dance with us,
To share our human joy.

From the grassy hill it leapt upon the roof,
Eager with its innocent love.
But its hooves gave it no hold,
And it fell to its pain,
It’s beautiful eyes imploring my help.

I could never stop it trying to be like us.
But I did not want it to suffer the agony of its broken body,
Or the pain of being unable to share its love with us.
So taking my rifle I shot it.

Not until then did I discover it had promised to marry the girl,
Knowing her unhappiness.
She wished for me to wed her,
But I refused to ask,
And the horse had loved her dearly,
Wanting to end her loneliness.

Knowing this I would still not marry her.
This was pain to her,
As great as any broken body,
And she pined with grief that I could not fully love her.
There was not even the horse to love her now.

And the horse, knowing her sadness,
Arose from the underworld,
And carried her back with it to the land of shades.

And I?
I remained as a shade in the land of the living.

Art by Raoul Martinez

Copyright ©2003 Tony Crisp