Rusty

BY CAROLE NICHOLS

My breath catches as you cross the meadow,
Swift as the wind and into the sun;
Glowing in the light of a newborn day,
Stretched out full as you make your run.

The chestnut sheen of your muscled chest
Throbs with the pulsing beat in your veins;
You toss that dark mane, snort with pride,
You allow me once more to take the reins.

Gone is the halter from your noble brow,
Gone is the bit that chaffed your lips;
Gone are the fences that held you in,
And gone is your feel from my fingertips.

Somewhere, I know, you lift that proud head,
Nostrils flared as they catch a scent;
You race in the wind, coat silky and warm,
Your heart grows not tired, your lungs not spent.

You neigh and the air echos your call,
You're gone, yet here, 'neath the Dogwood tree;
Prancing in dreams, in the fields of my mind,
Free, as you live in my memory.