THE STALLION

Standing high upon the rocky dome,

Standing tall in a challenging stance,

Surveying all that he calls home,

Watching the sunrise sunbeams dance,

Head held high and nostrils flared,

Whinnying his challenge loud and clear.

Challenging, remembering those who dared

And ran away in fear.

A shake of the head, a toss of the mane,

A thunder of hooves, a flowing tail.

Down from the mountain, stallion and dame,

Footsure on the mountain trail,

Into the valley, and the river, to drink,

And a gambol through the nearer wood,

And a pause to look, to listen, and think,

To stand where earlier heroes stood.

For he is a chief in a waning breed

And his harem stands loyally by,

Living with him in united need,

Not knowing they're soon to die.

He stands on a pinnacle and what is seen

In his wary, watchful eye?

A cold, hard-surfaced, asphalt stream,

And motor cars passing by.

He whinnies his challenge, and then turns back,

And there in the distance's gleam

Long twin ribbons of railroad track

And a monster propelled by steam.

He rears, he snorts, he paws the ground,

And seeks the friendly eagle in the sky;

And there, where eagles used to abound,

Vapor-trailing monsters are passing by.

And helicopter cowboys herd cattle below,

And motorcycles invade his realm.

And he stands defeated, his head held low,

Watching the children at the helm.

Where are the hawk and the sparrow,

The deer, the cabin, the thrush?

Where the Indians with bow and arrow,

The antelope beating the brush?

Where are the wagons, where the plow,

The wingless, the umuda, the corral?

Where is yesteryear? Why is now?

Where is the child for a pal?

And why has it happened, who let it be,

That this great stallion can't know

How great it is - just to be free

To be free to come and to go?

And somehow he senses the fact

And whinnies a call to the mares,

And with thundering herd intact,

Up the mountain he tears.

He stands at the pinnacle, there at the peak,

At the sunset, with mares and with get.

A beautiful picture, and if it could speak,