A COMPANION SUCH AS THIS

A COMPANION SUCH AS THIS



A COMPANION SUCH AS THIS

Two horsemen rode on the hill,
caught in the beat of the horse's hooves
and the desire raging in the restive heart of one
who rode behind, a laggard on the way uphill,
as the rider in the front goaded his horse to trudge and gallop, all at once.

The wilderness forced its way,
spread over the hill and the valley,
found its secret path
into the heart of the rider and the horse.
Everything was a call to stay
and tap the doors,
feel the deadly cold of the steel lock,
a lock that had forgotten how to open.

Forced tears were never the way
 to open rusted locks such as these.
The rider laughed a sardonic laugh
and the lock gave way and broke..
and the negative markers on the door
suddenly revealed the code.

The wilderness listened,
the heart listened
and the horse welcomed the pause.
The melody the wilderness sang was not a thunderous song.
It floated in the breeze, stirred the leaves,
whispered a roadmap into the ears of the horse
and the horse, a dumb creature that could not follow,
kept it locked in his heart.

stamping and fuming
was all that the horse could do.
On a foggy morning this was all
that the rider in the front could see.
The journey downhill, treacherous,
in need of the trust of the horse,
and the valley calling;
the wilderness of the hill,
the horse of the laggard tied to a branch of the tree;
the rider in front will never reach
the place he wanted to reach
with a companion such as this
with a companion such as this.
SUSHAMA KARNIK