Rabbit and Rose
tires clatter as I cross the bridge
sun squints lopsided through
mottled clouds and sheets of rain
the dappled, brawny hills gallop
away from me as straw colored
ponies redolent of damp earth
the hoof fall of rain
irregular, furious, then soft with laughter
a trace of mane in the water
pattern off the wind screen
the landscape neighs as the highway
veers to the north fed a
mouthful of hay and licking salt
and sweat from its flanks tears
into the oncoming shower, a lash
of tail through the snorting wind
slender-legged roan with sable- tipped hooves
blends in with the blacktop
the heaving muzzle lost among clouds
swirling above the road a river
of black spilling out before me
October 10, 2011