Image from Pixabay
A Liturgy of Horses
after 'Ganga Vandana' by Martti Anttila
The efforts we go to
for the things that we worship: the horses
we saddle-up: the provisions we assemble:
the hours we ride: the dust
we put up with in our eyes:
when we arrive, the hope
that room will be made for us.
The care we take
to fit alongside
the young man,
the old man,
the groups of men – always
the men
with tents
and towels: horses
waiting patiently
beneath the trees.
How different it looks
as an outsider:
the young man,
the old man,
the groups of men – always
the men
with tents
and towels: horses
tethered beneath the trees
looking like a stage-set.
I want to run amok
with firecrackers, rude words
and in the aftermath
quieter moments of testimony
that prospect for gold –
the freedom to ride.
Fly on The Window
wearing its mechanics without shame –
compound eyes a shade
to match several of the books
unopened on my shelf since their day
as a must-buy; I visit most afternoons,
make a purchase every fortnight,
chosen to impress with knowledge
of Sunday magazine reviews
or because the cover is pretty.
Mid-day Browser is a bit-part for me;
from behind the till I’m a Principal Player,
making an entrance each day
with a wipe-away of lunchtime tuna.
Under their gathered brows my care of covers
is as admired as is my inhalation
of fresh pages and attention
to shelf-tags that spell
Tabitha’s top reads.
Now, contemplating the facets of the day,
I recall their applause, the shouts of ‘encore’,
imagine their captivation
with how I strode the stage today,
the breath they hold to anticipate
tomorrow’s matinee, how,
at the thought I may one day
move on, their eyes
glaze over.
Bio from Roger: As a bookseller and then community development worker I rediscovered a love for writing. I’m grateful to have poetry in several online and print publications, to be a prizewinner in the 2020 Manchester Cathedral Poetry Competition and to have a pamphlet commended in the 2021 ‘Frosted Fire Firsts’ pamphlet competition.
I write primarily from my interest in being diverted by an idea, something overheard, an observation, a fascination, insight or emotion related to landscape, history, sociology, geology, the sciences. I can be found on Twitter @RogerHare6
Fevers of the Mind 