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)