soot and iron

she dances with horses

as she draws her brush across the page -

thick black strokes and delicate lines

gallop and whinny their way over hot-pressed cotton,

muscles stretching with the fiber,

hooves beating on ink-stained dirt,

every movement brimming with power and grace,

responding to the gentlest touch.

sometimes i think she doesn't know the magic she creates.

after so many hours spent studying

the alchemy of pigments

and searching for the essence of equine nature,

she meditates to the sound of brush on paper

and lets go,

her spirit dancing in soot and iron across the page.

(© 2012 Cassander)