TO GABRIEL (Haunting of the Soul)

vague resemblance
of a horse I once owned
	for real,
not out of dream

we would ride
as fields of wildflowers opened up for us,
stretching to eternity, those secret paths to Heaven.

with my eyes closed
against the Northern wind
I could feel your satin mane intertwined
in my
fingers

we flew as one
as though tomorrow did
not exist

until today
that I remembered you died, so long ago and
yet as profound and poignant as yesterday,
I
saw the ghost of
what love we left behind
and the ride we never finished
	and the pastures we never rode

and other such
hauntings of the soul.

(s.stumpf ©)