The Iron Horse       by Tana Coker

 

Love came softly

Lowered its head

 

I couldn’t run away from you

So I reached for you instead.

 

There you stood

Over fifteen hands high

My heart was pounding, I couldn’t breathe

I thought I was going to die.

 

Never could I have imagined

Not in my wildest dreams

This place, this horse, this moment in time

No matter how real it seems.

 

I come face to face with my Fantasy

To once again feel whole

To look into your eyes and realize

The depth of my own soul.

 

As I touched your mane, you stole my heart

I suddenly understood,

If anything were to get me out of this chair

This Palomino could.

 

This Iron horse beneath me

I had come to know too well

The memory of what put me here

My private living hell.

 

It didn’t seem to matter to you

That I could never walk by your side

As you graze in the meadow or walk to the barn

After a long days ride.

 

You stood so still so patiently

As they lifted me out of my chair

I couldn’t climb onto your back by myself

But you didn’t seem to care.

 

Priceless is the freedom

God gave to me that day

As I took the reins of this beautiful gelding

And slowly rode away.

 

If only for a little while

I could forget what had happened to me

For I traded in my Iron Horse

For one that would set me free