Like polished obsidian,

The beast’s coat gleams.

His breast heaves out and in and out again,

pulsating violently,

As if against some unseen barrier.

White foam lines his mouth like frost;

Lips stretched back,

Pale yellow teeth slightly parted,

Nostrils flared,

Wild.

His hooves beat fiercely at the earth,

Pounding out a frenzied rhythm,

Tossing cascades of soft white sand

Into the night;

Pure white,

Like powdered quartz,

Or a million tiny diamonds.

A crystalline wave

That captures and reflects

The pale glow of a full moon.

His eyes,

Charcoal in two bowls of salt,

Waiting to be lit,

Are wide,

Unblinking,

Savage.

He skids to a halt

Inches from the edge of the abyss,

Sending one last crystalline wave

Into the night.

The beast rears up,

beating furiously at the night sky.

He shakes his proud head side to side,

Flaunting his black velvet mane

As he cries out untamed.

He and I are one.

8-4-04