" The soaring, singing cello entangles horse and rider in a magic web of movements, so poignant in its grace that the end is a bereavement".

BALANCING
for Georges and Capriole

"A question of balance", he said,
leaning the small weight of his body against the air.
Beneath the press of his thigh the mare stepped away,
hoof over delicate hoof,
catching his weight again.

She did it perfectly, as if
concentrating, or listening
to a beat deeper than music,
tacking the seas of her brain
under gravity's shifting centre.

And somewhere in horse memory
out there under the moon
a stallion danced hoof over hoof
before sleepy mares,
his blood on fire.

Stamping starlight from wet grass,
he turned the planet under his hooves,
as the moon inched west,
drawing the sea's veined silver
like a horse's skin.

- Gillian Clarke

"SEE YOU NOT THE DREAM"

See you not the ribbed walls
Cool glance, flare eye
See you not the matressed ground
Delicate hoof, thunder step
See you not the night out there
Rich delight, fear's loot
See you not the dream in here
The neck shall arch, the head bend

Many a roll on stretched skin
Many a hammer's blood call
Many a feathery singing out
Many a word thud
Manya flecked flank
Many a lifting head

See you now the dream in here
Horse dream, beast dream

by Nigel Wells from
The Awakening in 1995