Ghost Riders

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)

Two Sparrows

Two sparrows sat in a willow tree

Squabbling over scraps of food
Eye to eye and beak to beak until
A steely breeze came from afar
And carried one away.

Late one summer the bird returned

With tales of distant lands

Of trees and flowers not seen before

By eye of bird or man.

And reader, Hark! when all is quiet

The two sparrows may still be heard

In the whispering of the wind at night.

Though no-one knows where they are now

We wish them both eternal flight.

—okei (2001)

Photo: “Two Sparrows & A Young Goldfinch” by Johannes Bronkhorst