Wild Horse
Laying still                         
                                                    She rages,
                                                    contained, strained
                                                    hysterical
                                                    eyes fierce with determination
                            
It’s different this time
                                                    She fumes, snorts,
                                                    desperate to run wild,
                                                    resists
 
There was a time
When my body was nothing but pain
For many years
Emotional pain
                                                    She remembers,
                                                    lurches violently
                            
This is now
This is a different kind of pain
It will pass.
                                                    She begins to hear
                                                       the soothing words
                            
I stroke her head
Tell her it’s going to be all right
                                                   The urge and desire
                                                    to run is strong
                        
Just go inside and see what it feels like
You can leave again
                                                   She is scared
 
That was then
                                                    She likes the gentle touch
                                                    Maybe this will be different
 
Ablaze behind the eyes
Pounding so that my whole head
Feels like it is the center of a drum
Throbbing rhythmically
It burns
 
It is
                                                   She is calmer now
                                                    gentle,
                                                    beautiful,
                                                    trusting
 
I move further into the center
Of the pain
It pierces through my whole body
Pulsating, thumping, pounding
Fearlessly
Combating
the foreign assailant
                                                   I cease running
 
And become the pain
 
For a few brief moments
It dissolves.