Tuesday Poem: Twoness Before Oneness, by Madeleine M. Slavick

 



TWONESS BEFORE ONENESS



He wears leather wings on his legs

called chaps. Boots, jeans, belt, hat.

Steps in the dirt corral

as if his first circle.

He has lived with horse

for fifty years, says the time

it takes is the time it takes.

As little, as much.

He leads, waits

feels, and the horse can feel

the smallest change

in body, thought, heart.

So be certain. Smooth,

soothe him after you mount him.

Love, love, and

direct with respect.

Worship one another.

There must be

twoness before oneness.

There is only one way of being,

and that is softness.



For Gavin Morison

Martinborough, New Zealand



Credit note: Madeleine M. Slavick is a writer and photographer. Madeleine has several books of poetry and non-fiction and has exhibited her photography internationally. She has lived in Germany, Hong Kong, and the USA, and is currently based in New Zealand, where she maintains a daily blog: touchingwhatilove.blogspot.com. This poem is previously unpublished, and is reproduced by permission of the author.



Tim says: Madeleine tells me that she wrote this poem after meeting a master horse trainer recently, and observing a session when he was breaking in a horse. I like the flow of this poem, and I love the ending.



You can see all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem blog.You can buy books by Tim Jones online! Voyagers: SF Poetry from NZ from Amazon.Transported (short story collection) from Fishpond or New Zealand Books Abroad.