(Image credit: Adam Bailey, CC BY-ND 2.0)
Wild horses.
Flowing manes
Exuberant screaming
Thundering over the plains
In an ecstasy of freedom.
Pale, blond palominos
Midnight black steeds
Appaloosas and blue roans
Medicine Hat stallions
Wild, free spirits of the plains
Sired by Pegasus
Soul of the earth
Beauty incarnate.
Tossing manes and stamping feet
Flaring nostrils, glowing eyes
Never was gypsy more passionate
Aristocrat more noble.
The Wild Ones.
Essence of earth
Truth incarnate.
What have we done to them?
Aerial capture and bloodied hoofs
Bursting lungs and shot-out eyes
Broken legs and broken spirits
Humiliation in death corrals
Lassoes and auctions
Rendering plants and pet food.
Essence of death
Evil incarnate.
Let there be no more joy
No more laughter.
Let there be weeping throughout the land
Weeping and understanding and rage.
And retribution for their death.
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Mary de La Valette ’87
