Creation groans for hope of renewal in the tales of The Jaguar Oracle, a work I continue to develop. Plod, a retired, weary work horse, finds himself suddenly inspired as the wind blows over him before a dying pond where the footprints of South Texas coastal birds bear testimony of thirst. Here is the prophetic vision shown to him about horses. You can find this poem in the portion of the tale known as The Search for the Shadow Cat, available on Amazon. (Order it here.)

Dapple, down, roan, and black as jet we run
In ranks and rows rolling over toppled
Barricades and last-stand clusters gathered
To go down with bayonets thrusting wild
At our unrelenting chests whose heartbeat
Scorns the point of death and splits with high hoof
The clattered crumbling of the falling foe
And on we go

Cantering down the steep bank now sliding
Hurling full weight into unplumbed rivers
Crossing fears hidden ’neath the surface where
Solid ground is not below but on
Our unburdened backs burdened only by
The joy of riders coming back from dust
With laughter fiercer than the feet
Who trampled them

We gallop on the wind till stirrup lifts
And riding crop forgotten for the wings
That take its place with bare feet pressing on
Our frames in haste to lift their masters
After lead steed bearing the Unbeaten
Beaten Body: his feet bare, too, but bruised
Hands holding seven stars in speaking scars
Now glorified

We reach level ground of never-ending
Plain where every imprint births a spring of
Pools and afterward a rain that washes
Every tear of pain till all cascades through
Cataracts of wild, undaunted joy where
Neither bit, nor bridle, nor callous hand
Can separate us from our masters grand
Soon returning

I brood upon the pasture past the falls
I stir before the promise of a child
I call to wild ancestors in the dust
“Red day’s fading! The green you sought has come!”
Children lead the cavalcade proceeding
From amnesia to ambrosia waking
Never again to muddy Eden’s springs
Resurrecting

© Kurt Mähler

Order the digital version of The Search for the Shadow Cat.

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