The Wild Horse Poem by Laurence Overmire

I ride the wild horse
The windy steed with the bloody hooves
I have no reins, no control, no will of my own
My arms tight around the surging neck
Fingers clutching the flying mane
Heels dug into the galloping muscles of the flanks
Down rocky slopes, steep terrain
He carries me
Helplessly
Deep inside the darkest passages
Of my self—

The dreaming unbidden places
Where the timeless wisdom of the midnight moon
Touches the fire of the stars and
Gives breath
To the wakening soul.


(Previously published in Shadyvale Magazine, Winter 2000)