The bounding spirits of horses are marvelous beings
whose ancestors galloped across the salient walls of

Paleolithic caves, onto the Steppes of Asia, shamans
riding them in equine dreams, drumming on nervous
systems, what figure stands as a stranger to himself?

A blue heron lifts, and flies downstream.
It's not a poem that remains but its path:

unforgiving              
unforeseen.

 

 

Paleolithic caves: "Horses are one of the most frequently depicted animals in the Upper Paleolithic. They alone represent about 30 per cent of the animals in all the caves." B.O. Alpert, "The Meaning of the Dots on the Horses of Pech Merle." Arts.Vol. 2, 2013.
equine dreams: “In the tradition of Mongolian shamanism the ceremony was known as amilkha. Here the staff gained life and was transformed into a living horse that helped the shaman to contact the invisible world of spirits.” A Rozwadowski. In, D.S. Whitley & K. Hays-Gilpin, editors, Belief in the Past. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2008.
blue heron: "Sentries at the shoreline, herons move at dusk in shallow water." A. Vizenor, Interior Landscapes. Albany NY, 2009.