Terlingua Moon: A Tribute to Mary

by Shannon King

Running under moonlight, hooves pounding. Roads bright against the dark, lighting our way. I lose my hat. Then finally, rain.

I can’t see forward anymore and forget who I am. Losing sight of what’s real. The wind reminds me and I wish it would storm.

Obscured by dust one mountain becomes two. I am small in this world, sometimes frail. Knowing it lives without me, secrets at every turn – my only job to cultivate surprise.

Moving forward, we choose our steps carefully, trying not to think about where this ride will end. Focusing only on the path.

This horse breeds freedom, the night gives to me without knowing, and the desert seduces. “Leave it all behind,” they say. And I want to... I believe.

For “what does the world mean to you if you cannot trust it to go on shining when you’re not there?” - Mary Oliver