Zona at 33

 

As the prizewinning rider and horse become one

in the practiced precision of jumps,

so Zona rides astride earth itself,

her warrior stance balanced and sure,

her feet and legs steady above

the galloping, pivoting ground.

 

But the air into which she looks up

is a whole other element

beneath which her powerful spine arches back

with a whisper, like a reed or a stalk.

 

In the vast and voluminous air her bare throat

yields to the kiss of a breeze

and one hand relaxes her martial grip,

and one hand touches her hair and her face

as curiously as lover's hand might

that yearns to open her life to surprise:

sudden danger and wonders

that fall from the skies.