The horse snorts and bucks and pulls at the reins
But I am not the horse
I’m not his rider either
jouncing her brain up and down
trying to recite calm words
I am the trees and posts
beside the path, the stones, the earth
beneath the hooves, the sky within
which he moves
Not the magpies and skydivers spooking him
Not rain, rainbow, sun, drenching and drying him
I am sky itself
all the way to space
And when he has had his run
I am the stable,
the frame, the six walls
and half-door view
to which at last
he returns
From A coat of ashes