'Up Here On This Saddle' Poem by Whitney Nicole Albright*

Corn stalks are swaying in summer air
The weeds and tall grass as well
In which it carries my long hair
And gives off a lovely celestial smell

Lightning strikes in the trees beyond
It thunders in the distant valleys
Rain slowly casts on the pond
Like rising splattering rallies

Traveler kicks up his two heels
Races for his stall in the stable
Ah, dark clouds, so ideal
I’d touch them if I were able

But, still I reach for those clouds
Like a dreaming woman on a horse
For nothing is so quiet when loud
As Traveler’s galloping force

We slash through the mud and grime
Underneath apple trees and rain
On the back of Traveler I’ll always climb
Until the day neither he or I can again

Ah, horses are the reason people settle west
Not for the gold rush or a quencher
It’s the horse that brings on a quest
It’s the horse that gives adventure

We yearn for a feeling deep inside
And through each other we do provide
His feelings and mine seem to collide
Our souls are one whenever I ride

To run with time, to chase it for a while
Disappear as quickly as the days
He lifts me up and runs for miles
In the place where all of the eagles prey

And all of the wild beast roam
Where puddles are missed by a straddle
Ah, it’s nothing but home
Up here on this saddle