Visions of Horses

It's a commonly held belief that animals perceive the supernatural more readily than humans.

Maybe pit ponies are no different.

Visions of Horses

Trudging up with heavy load
I walk my daily route - blinkered
in the dark I work and graft
with little love or reward.

It seems like this is eternity;
I remember so little else -
the memories seem like
imagined dreams - of my mother
nuzzling me gently as I drink
and of sunlight and rain;
of children laughing and patting.

My driver is neither kind
nor fierce - his melancholy drips
from him like water from the roof.
I sense his feelings
and those of the others who
cut the dark rock and fill my tubs.
Some say we sense more than
living emotions.

As I think this I catch, coming
towards me, a pale pony.
As we converge he stops
and stares straight in my eye.
His driver grunts - "hup lad"
but he will not move. I move
towards him, slowly - my
silent driver gives no orders.

I connect with the pony
whose baleful gaze is
now mere yards away.
I hear his thoughts -
he shimmers a little,
not quite solid.

"Hello friend"
I feel his words but cannot
respond. His master is
berating him, urging him on.
My grief is so deep my legs
buckle and my head bows.

"We will meet again"
he says and begins to move.
As he passes though me
we become one.

In that instant I know
which of us no longer lives.