The First Time We Met

When I entered your space

you stood in the corner

Your dark dove eye

sought my gaze and waited

not knowing if I had come

to comfort or hurt

though I had the power for either

You, expecting nothing

except perhaps that I might

reach out to touch you

but I didn’t

 

I squatted inside the stable door

drew your eyes to my body by gazing

at your shoulders and back

waiting until you

came to me

curious and open

You smelled my hair, snorted

massaged my scalp

velvet lips and the whiskered

soft pad of your chin

all the while me wondering

if you’d challenge

this strange invader

with your teeth

but you didn’t

 

I rose to my height

nestled my shoulder

into your neck

deep as an overstuffed chair

and my cheek against your mane

crisp heavy sharp-strands

You nuzzled my back

Then, and only then

I touched you

 

My palm smoothed

by the grain of your neck

human skin met silken hide

sliding down the iron-grey

slipping across warm wrinkles

that gathered at the meeting

of breast and shoulder

soft like a puppy’s muzzle

My skin craved more

 

You stood, listening

my hands traveled

the continents of your withers,

back, sides and belly

wide like a baby whale

twitching when invaded by fly

stilled for my exploring hands

yet not ignoring

your senses never sleep

 Fingers rounded the curve of your leg

sliding down, smooth glide

I found the velvet vessel

feeding forearm to frog 

pulsing and soft 

under tendon and flesh

hidden in the groove

between bones

splint and cannon

You shifted, passed your weight

to the other locked leg

lifted one tidy hoof

into my hand

 

Planting your head

on the bend of my back

you exhaled across my bottom

hay-sweetened breath

our introduction

complete