from the islands that we’ve crossed
we shake the water off
It was the colt that noticed the stallion’s presence first, and he turned, pulling his solid, white-patched frame away from the shadowy skin of his mother. She turned and watched him take a few steps toward the stranger, alert with ears tilted forwards, and confident knowing that his mother was behind him. It wasn’t that he expected danger or aggression from the stranger, but more that he was not so naïve as he might’ve been if Guadalupe hadn’t been his mother. She had told him from the very beginning that the world could be a beautiful place, but that every light cast a shadow, and be wary, my son, because one day you’ll have to discern these things for yourself, and maybe even for others.
As far as the colt could tell, this stranger was no shadow, he didn’t seem to be displaying any kind of behaviour that could be taken as anger or aggression or dominance. He was just asking a question. The colt regarded the stallion in contemplative silence, wondering if he should reply, or ask the same thing of him instead. But then Guadalupe was snorting, and the boy turned to look back, only to find that she was now approaching the stallion too, coming to a halt just behind him. She brushed her soft lips over his back, before she spoke to the stallion.
“Such a simple question, and yet, how to answer?” The words were said with an edge of amusement, and her ears flicked forwards, the hint of a spark glinted briefly in her deep, dark eyes. The colt flicked his tail, and shook his head, so that his soft mane spiked up a little along the ridge of his neck as he looked back at his mother. “It’s easy, Guadalupe! You are one who is brave and bold and fearless. You are restless, though, and a little frustrated…” He trailed off, and looked at the pale golden stallion. “She is someone who is like water, capable of power, but capable of being gentle too… Like a soft and steady rain.”
Guadalupe shifted closer, and lipped at her son’s mane, moved a little by his words, and proud of his insight. “I don’t think that’s quite what he meant, little one, but, you answered his question all the same.” She turned her inquisitive gaze back to the stranger, and lifted his muzzle to catch his scent. It had been one of the many she’d come across during her time on the border, but he hadn’t been one of the few she’d had the fortune to run into. “As my boy said, I am Guadalupe, and it is unfortunate that we should meet just as I am preparing to leave. What is your name, stranger?”
The colt perked up beside her, dancing on his hooves. “And who are you?” he asked, not quite understanding that names were what most usually asked for, and not the deeper things that he was eager to seek. Guadalupe settled down, resting a hind hoof, her gaze lingering on the buckskin stallion, even as she nudged the bay and white boy gently in the shoulder. “It would be nice to know who to ask for, if I happen to be back this way in the near future,” she said, an edge in her voice again, slightly different from before, and thought about elaborating. But she did not say anything more, and contented herself waiting for answers and watching for his reaction to her and her son both.
guadalupe
like a silver glacier slowly shrinks away |