Your eyes mirrored the wonder of horse as you petted one of mine today -

"I always wanted to bond with a horse.” Those words of yours struck something soft, deep, and secret inside me.

I can close my eyes and know the sweet, subtle spice scent of my bond mate as it tickles the back of my throat.

If I hold my head just so, toss my mane of hair back and skip, he will dance with me.

The small hollow behind his chin and above his throat pulses with pleasure as I softly stroke it.  He gently bends his grand head and rubs that Roman nose across the back of my neck.

He looks up from his hay as I approach his stall and whickers just loudly enough to flare his nostrils.  His eyes half shut with joy as I call his name.

It got cold quick and the rain went to an icy chilliness, I brought him in and rubbed him with a warm bath towel then got the blow drier and covered him with warm air.  As the heat dissolved the ice and dissipated into a fog around the both of us, he sighed and leaned against me, gently, lovingly.  It was a moment stolen in secret and engraved in my heart to treasure always.

He was always greedy about his carrots, eating them in quick snatches, but always waiting on the last bite for me to break in half and savor the feel and taste of that carrot with him.  He would kiss me after, as if to say I now smelled like his favorite food.

He moved like quicksilver, seemed to flow rather than jerk across the earth.  He created magic with his hooves, and light flared from his eyes.  One moment he was across the pasture, the next nuzzling me.  The essence of our secret communion had called him to me without a word spoken.

I felt his pain, his joy, and his love.  He shared my sorrow, my happiness, and my life.  When the sun blended our shadows as one, it only imitated what our spirits had already achieved. 

Somewhere across that Rainbow Bridge he lifts his head and cocks an ear, in perfect empathy with the mixture of painful joy these words always bring me.

© Carol M Chapman

To GoWyeth, separated from me in body these many years, always bonded to me in heart, soul, and mind. On this anniversary of our parting I looked for you in the rain and it shattered around me.