TheBanyanTree: MYSTERY WOMAN

[Sharon Mack]

MYSTERY WOMAN

Behind dark glasses
     She did stay
     As though never to betray
     The fears that certainly must lay
Beneath the thin veneer.

Wintry smile at very best
     As though behind a wall
     Alone and very small
     She seemingly to fall
Away when one came near.

The first time e'er I saw her
     She sat astride her mount
     A wild thing, bold and stout.
     He turned himself about
Prancing, dancing in the air.

She giving him his head
     They ran the hills and dales
     Amongst the crystal veils
     Of shady mossy trails
Hair blowing in the wind.

She as dark as he
     Cool and deep and sleek
     They sauntered through the creek
     Branches catching at her cheek
>From trees at waters edge.

She never knew that I existed
     Never knew that I was there.
     Watching with great care
     With loathing and despair
Of my shy and timid ways.

I watched her ride alone
     So delicate and small.
     She seemed not tall at all
     I imagined her soft drawl
As to her steed she spoke.

Whispering softly, bent so close,
     To head and to his ear
     She seemed so very near
     I pretended I could hear
The enchantment of her voice.


He raised his head, his nostrils flared,
     He seemed to understand.
     He sought his lady's hand,
     Pawing loose the sand,
Anxious to be off.

And when at last she let him go
     He took her cross the ledge
     Leaping over hedge
     Make deep the wedge
That stood between us two.

I watched her for that summer
     And when those days were done
     At the setting of the sun
     They rode off as one
To be never seen again.
 
Sharon A. Mack