Tuesday, July 27, 2010

My Dark Night Horses


Some shackle their nightmares
I set freedom to my steeds
Shoeing them with light iron
Granting higher scale and faster speed

In the darkness of their hour
These roof top guardians stand their watch
Awaiting sounds of falling dreams
Revisiting what was lost

In flight they search for traces
And remnants of lost souls
Left along the gutters edge
Of a thousand cities paved in gold

Recording the names and faces
Those marked as Satan’s dead
My mares note each and every birthmark
And the dreams they nightly dread

By dawn my steeds returning
With the lost hope of countless years
Filling my morning cup overflowing
With faces crying unheard tears

This quill bleeds the vessel
Writing each name upon a list
Of daily prayers to be recited
For all these weary quests

My scrolled task in order
Prayers for nameless hearts unfed
I thank my dark night horses
And send them to their bed

I thank my dark night horses
And send them to their bed


bkmackenzie
copyrighted by author

Post is for One Shot Wednesday..click here to read more...
and the Poetry Pantry at Poets United....

35 comments:

  1. tight verse...love the horse theme and the repitition at the end drives this home well...one shot will be open in just a bit!

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  2. I love this one signed bkm! It is such a powerful poem of hope and dreams! It is breathtaking and I am in awe! Wonderful writing!! :-)

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  3. took me..! horses have always been close to my soul,the theme is intiguing,that was a tight write i agree with Brian! well done..:)overwhelming i must say..

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  4. I love horses and miss my mare even after all these years. She is still my Dark Night Horse.
    Thank you for the unintentional walk down memory lane, I will probably dream of her tonight.

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  5. Beautiful imagery as well as the writing. Deep and powerful.

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  6. Great imagery. The poetic story flows nicely through your lines.

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  7. That nightly vigil carried forth by the faithful steed. What a lovely picture of faithfulness

    Thanks for your being part of One Shot Poetry. We really do have a great group of poets

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  8. Don't forget their nosebags filled with warm oats. ;-)

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  9. Vivid. Solid. Worth reading. Makes me think. Thanks - Bill

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  10. All hail Signed..bkm. wow this is not an ordinary poem.

    "Some shackle their nightmares
    I set freedom to my steeds
    Shoeing them with light iron
    Granting higher scale and faster speed'

    lovely, i wished i could write these lines. fantastic. i love the flow and everything about this great poem.

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  11. I love the opening
    "Some shackle their nightmares
    I set freedom to my steeds"
    There is something very unerving but also exciting about those lines
    "My mares note each and every birthmark
    And the dreams they nightly dread"
    Wonderful the thought that nightmares observe everything
    Your piece had the hair on the back of my neck on end

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  12. Beautiful poem. I absolutely loved it. It flowed so easily and I just loved it. Can't wait to read your poem for next week.

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  13. Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments...I wrote this piece a couple years ago..but it stays with me....I read the etymology of the word Nightmare and that triggered the poem...bkm

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  14. just another..GREAT POEM...comment
    truly a delight to read

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  15. Awesome, I have such affiliation and love for horses and you made me read this over again!! Thanks so much for sharing...your work is wonderful!! :)

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  16. what shining work here,
    admire your energy in doing these.

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  17. I love your dark night horses.....and especially love the riff below on Simon and Garfunkle, my music Back In the Day:) Great writing, great imagery, great nostalgia, great site! Awesome work! and thanks for visiting my site, I appreciate it! Enjoy the Island on your visit!

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  18. Brave to set those steeds free from shackles, wonderful to bring them home again. And then the parallel quill that bleeds, and the scroll on which the names are written. Yes, I like this. A lot. Thank you.

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  19. Powerful poem with majestic imagery.

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  20. Your night-horses, night-mares, night-steeds gallop through your dreams very mightily.

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  21. Powerful imagery and interesting theme of the power and dread of dreams. I do poetry for fun rather than publication so for this week only, I’ve nervously posted an example from each of my blogs: an Elegy from Scribbles and Diversions, a Gogyohka from Random Twitter Stories, and free verse poem from Random Short Stories.

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  22. I love horses and that was wonderfully written, glad i stopped by from one-stop.

    Wild Rose~

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  23. I enjoyed this. Wild brumbies couldn't drag me away! :)

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  24. I want one of them too:< They are so coolXD And this wonderful poem tells it all! =D Thank for sharing :P

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  25. even in the darkness there is still hope, even if it's held by just one.

    very well written.

    smiles,

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  26. bkm,
    Very thought provoking words, with a hopeful ending.

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  27. the picture of the horses - and the names - give this poem lots of strength

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  28. Your poem sounds like the words of the Devil, enjoying his morning cup of not coffee, but lost souls gathered the night before by his steeds. I love the rhythm of this too. I could hear someone like Gordon Lightfoot singing this as I read.

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  29. Not the devil Patti...but one who prays for those the rest of world has cast way...believing lost....I would not give the devil that much power.....thanks for the comment...bkm

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  30. A brilliant concept- your words are paired well together, a keen insight to a world only a few can awaken to the endless dance of the dream.

    Just adored this poem.

    Joanny

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  31. Powerful, cold, and very brilliantly out forth!
    The imagery was fantabulous! The words were so strong that I could visualize clearly with each line!!!
    NEAT!!!

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  32. This one is great and it reminds me of the nightmares in Piers Anthony's Xanth novels.

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  33. Hi BKM..been away for a week and am catching up..what a great poem..this had me held from start to finish..a great ride ..no pun intended..cheers Pete

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