we swept away

I love the bold, strong, sensuous nature of this poem. It feels childlike -- full of energy, memory, innocence...and yet so full of adult longing. The poet's choice to "personify" childhood experiences through the figure of horses gives those memories a size and majesty that just feels...right. As I think about how I've been formed by long-ago moments in my life, I realize that they do indeed carry weight and power that's intimidating, calming, wild, and beautiful.

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There Were Horses
by Annie Lighthart

There were horses in all our days.

An open white page in any book was a lean white horse

looking out, and a swollen door stuttering at night

was the breath and stamp of a horse nearby.

Boys ran like horses

and our hidden eyes in the oak trees

wore their depth of amber.

Even the mountain swung its back low between peaks

and moved into the plain of darkness

like a horse coming home.

Those days we brushed each other's hair like the manes of horses

and with their kindness gave each other kingly gifts.

We stood skin to skin in the rain. We swept away the gathering flies.