Horse of the Highlands

Lost was I amidst the Scottish highlands The evening sky was blushing heaven-kissed Hilltops pierced the dusky fog like islands As soft a horse came swimming thru the mist Pausing to consider its intentions I stood there hypnotized and still as death Thus its beauty quelled my apprehensions And naught there was but magic in its breath Like the grand Bucephalus he gestured Nodding with his head for me to follow With the trails deep in the brume and vestured Held no greater hopes until the morrow Building in my gut were pangs of hunger Outside the hopes of finding further aid Sixty and not getting any younger My future hinged on choices to be made Little left to lose I started hiking Just steps behind the stallion as he led Even in the dark his hide was striking His color white as sheets and purely bred On we walked for miles through the night, dim Until I spied some farm lights further on Stopping to remember him and thank him But searching through the darkness ... he was gone. ~ 1st Place ~ in the "Some Paradise Where Horses Go" Poetry Contest, Michelle Faulkner, Judge & Sponsor. ~ 4th Place ~ in the "Eight Words Challenge - 24 Lines Maximum" Poetry Contest, Robert Haigh, Judge & Sponsor. ( Ten syllables/line, counted at HowManySyllables.com, no cliche's, via cliche' tool at PoetrySoup.com )