Flying Winds And Horseman Poem by Felix Bongjoh

(i)

The sun throws
back a moss
and basil veil over
the juniper air

of the stretching
garden whispering
in the wind
and crawling breeze,

as gales fly
and jump amid
cartwheeling
shadows and elves.

Humming with elves
skipping out
of shades and leaves'

seafoam hue
amid shadows
and lurking
bobbing silhouettes.

(ii)

Sniveling, as puffs
dash through
steel lines waving
rattling, feathery

dry leaves, as linen
and palmate
leaves weave
more shadows amid
dancing vines.

galloping, as trees
toss their heads
to the sky, falling back

with the paws
and thud
of dropping fruits
shaken from
spinning petioles.

What trudges
through
the garden at each
spate of gale?

(iii)

The children
upstairs
yell out they saw

and heard
the horseman trot
through the gate.

I throw my eyes
at the gate
only to find pickle
clouds expanding

wings and ship
sails in the dimming
sun capturing

a thousand silhouettes
and waning figures.

The horseman,
bawls out
one of the children,

stopped by three hours
since the school
bell's chanting toll.

In the brewing
storm of children

screaming
and hollering
at the top
of their voices

amid squawking
dropping leaves
in a sweeping gale,

they shout out
they saw
or did not see

the man
on horseback

three hours since
the singing,
growling school bell.

(iv)

But as soon
as the storm slows
down to a crawl
and tightens its lips,

thunder strikes
at the outer gate,

a bearded panting man
knocking hard:

"My horse is tethered
to that pine tree
near the larger tree
standing like a ship".