There it goes again —
And all I hear is the beating of hooves,
The beating of hooves upon the stony ground
And the whistle of the wind that follows
As it rushes over marsh and moor.
For an instant I am with them,
Senses galloping to their din,
Hair billowing — then gone
Forever onwards —
They fade into the night.
Whither to I cannot tell,
Nor fathom reason for such haste.
The earthly stillness swallows them up
And as the dust settles in the starlight,
All returns once more to how it always was.
—okei (23rd Jan. 2005)
And all I hear is the beating of hooves,
The beating of hooves upon the stony ground
And the whistle of the wind that follows
As it rushes over marsh and moor.
For an instant I am with them,
Senses galloping to their din,
Hair billowing — then gone
Forever onwards —
They fade into the night.
Whither to I cannot tell,
Nor fathom reason for such haste.
The earthly stillness swallows them up
And as the dust settles in the starlight,
All returns once more to how it always was.
—okei (23rd Jan. 2005)
I didn't know you were a poet. Thank you so very much for sharing your fantastic poetry with us. I am impressed.
ReplyDeleteGhost Riders; Fantastic poem, dude! Are they in motorcycles?
ReplyDeleteSuddenly I thought of Nicholas Cage.....
ReplyDelete2005? I think I was in the land of Lost Sunshine at the time. Worked all day, only emerged from the office at night. And no time for poetry at all.
This was great, Okei. More! More! Heh heh.
Lol. If you like! Actually, no, definitely not!! It says "beating of hooves". Has to be horses, but whether the horses really exist or whether they are a figment of the imagination and what they represent is up to you. :^)
ReplyDeletehow very nice .......I was caught up there too ...thundering hooves matching the pounding of a heartbeat and then as quick as it came it was gone ....just the thought that comes to mind is living in the moment , the feeling exciting dangerous and yet so much fun but when its over and understanding and acceptance ...giggle sorry okei ...shah and jach both will tell you I get carried away with my imagination sometimes
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a night in the open...many many years ago!
ReplyDeleteWe were visiting holy Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, India. That's the very place where our 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh ji, spent many years, established Khalsa Panthh and battles were fought with the Moghuls for our rights to keep faith!
We spent one hot summer night in the inn (every major Gurdwara have one attached, for people to stay...free), out in the corridor. In the middle of night, I was woken up by the sounds of horses' hooves! Distinct sounds! I could hear them come nearer and stop by my cot...Sweating profusely, praying hard, I mustered courage to open my eyes. Well, nobody could be seen!!!
In morning when I narrated this to my family, my father told us of the various battles that were fought on the very land! Yes, on horse-backs!
Isn't that amazing?!?
For you, its imagination...for me Gost Riders were real, though still unseen!!!
This poem was pure inspiration... I had very little hand in it, I just wrote it down. So whether the ghost riders are real or imagined is up to the reader. But I'm truly astounded that you had this exact experience yourself (except for feeling sorry that the horses pass by so quickly). You're not likely to get much sleep after that! Are these inns for the faithful often haunted, like a test for those who stay there? Or, on the contrary, would those who looked after the inn be really quite surprised about your experience as being out of the ordinary?
ReplyDeleteFascinating story though! Thanks so much for sharing...