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Open Poetry #43
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OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

0 posted 2008-09-15 11:41 AM



TODAY, WHEN WE WALKED
2 March 2001

Today, when we walked,
more than any other day,
I wanted to walk on forever,
with the sun on our backs,
and the breeze in our faces and lifting your mane just a little,
and your golden glow warmth at my side,
and your ears twitching as I spoke to you,
continuously, about this and that,
and that and this,
and you listened and understood all I said,
more than any other,
and I understood your interest and attention,
and our bond was, as always, all-encompassing,
for,
as always,
I was your world,
and you were mine.

- Owl

© Copyright 2008 Diana van den Berg - All Rights Reserved
Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California
1 posted 2008-09-15 11:55 AM


What a lovely, peaceful poem, Owl. Nice  picture too.
                              Ida

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
2 posted 2008-09-15 12:42 PM


Thanks, Ida.  It is about Flicka when he was alive.

- Owl

TheAnonDavid
Member
since 2008-08-28
Posts 237
UK
3 posted 2008-09-15 01:43 PM


As I read it I realised this was about your Flicka.
Thank you for sharing your memories and thoughts in a touching poem.

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
4 posted 2008-09-15 01:53 PM


Thank you for recognising Flicka.  

- Owl

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-25
Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5 posted 2008-09-15 03:01 PM


Yo dear OwlSA,

This is a lovely picture and poem.

Love Bobby

Midnitesun
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Empyrean
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647
Gaia
6 posted 2008-09-15 08:34 PM


Flicka and you shared a long earthly journey in harmony and understanding. Reading your words, it is obvious she is very much by your side, Diana.
An enjoyable read. Great photo, nice to 'see' you!!!

BTW, it will take a couple of days to compose a readable email to you about my west coast visit with Sara. I'm incredibly tired today, and still sorting through my thoughts and notes.

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
7 posted 2008-09-16 12:55 PM


Thank you Bobby.  You are a very good friend of Flicka - after all you introduced him to Bones, another of his very good friends!

Thank you Kacy, for understanding so well about Flicka.  Just one little correction - although the original Flicka was a "she" and although "Flicka" means "little girl" in Swedish, my Flicka is a "he".  He was/is totally masculine and thus can handle the name without losing any of his masculinity (the way real men can help with housework) and also, I am sure that the first person to give him his name (probably when he was a newborn foal) could see that he was then and always would be the epitome of love, and gave him his name on the strength of that.  I am so blessed, honoured and happy to have been the human mother for 20½ years of the most wonderful, loving, loved (by all people and animals he ever met - and then by people in poetry forums long after he went to Heaven!) horse of all time on the planet.

I am looking forward to your email, Kacy, but understand that you must be exhausted, besides having so much to catch up on.  I am excited by the fact that you took notes, because that means that I will get more detail than if it was just from memory.  

- Owl

poddarku
Senior Member
since 2008-01-15
Posts 589
india
8 posted 2008-09-16 11:36 AM


Ah! it is the only word comesout of my face.You so understanding of the emotions and eloquent silence on a mute mate.
So that was Flicka.
this is you.

clever talks delay friendship!

Ericc
Member Elite
since 2003-01-31
Posts 4178

9 posted 2008-09-16 02:54 PM


Wonderful!

Eric

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
10 posted 2008-09-16 04:32 PM


Kushal, you put a smile on my face with your deep understanding of Flicka's "eloquent silence".  I so miss the conversations we used to have when I rode him (before I retired him), when I walked him (after I retired him), when I took him grazing, in his stable.  He would heal any bad moods or fears of mine with his all-encompassing compassion, understanding and love.  We used to talk about all sorts of things - like the meaning of the word 'succulent' with regard to grass; the fact that day and night were caused by the rotation of the earth around the sun; that the seasons were caused by the revolution of the earth around the sun; and that the beautiful cloud formations in the sky when I walked him in the last 3 months of his life were messages from Gilbert to us.  Gilbert was the head groom there for 20 years.  He was killed tragically in a car accident 3 months before Flicka died.  Everyone was devastated. I wrote him a poem which I think I have posted here.  He met Flicka at the gate when Flicka arrived in Heaven and they are together there now.

Thank you Eric.  I am glad you enjoyed it.

- Owl

The Lady
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-12-26
Posts 7634
The Southwest
11 posted 2008-09-22 12:30 PM



when you write of Flicka
you write of then and now

he still very much lives in your heart Diana
and this is lovely
touching


OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
12 posted 2008-09-22 12:43 PM


Thank you for seeing and for knowing this and for knowing and loving my beloved Flicka, Kate.  

- Owl

Alison
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Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-27
Posts 9318
Lumpy oatmeal makes me crazy!
13 posted 2008-09-22 02:30 AM


Diana,

I so feel this and understand it.  I walk still with my Tasha Dog at my side .. and I feel her smile as she nudges at my hand to share secrets.

A

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
14 posted 2008-09-22 09:24 AM


Although I was never able to have a horse own me such as this, I do have an affinity with them...it was one of the sadder moments when my father recognized that I would be a good horsewoman...and he could not fulfill that dream.


OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
15 posted 2008-09-22 11:46 AM


Dear Alison, bonding tears for you and your Tasha Dog.  Tasha will be with Flicka - he adored/adores dogs and they adored/adore him, and he will be gamboling with her at his heels in lush green meadows.  Thank you for reading and understanding.  

Thank you dear Karilea for understanding how I belonged/belong to Flicka.  I can well believe that you have an affinity with horses - and every living person and animal on the planet, for that matter - and I wish so much that you could have had the horsy childhood that I had.  I was very blessed in that way.

- Owl

Gaelynsgirl
Member
since 2008-07-18
Posts 175
Ont. Canada
16 posted 2008-09-23 10:13 AM


I've walked this walk and have known that silent communication. It is a bond that will live in your heart and memory for all time.

L.

Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
17 posted 2008-09-23 02:22 PM


What an absolutely wonderful feeling of total symbiosis you convey here, dear Diana, makes me want to linger here too!

(((((Diana and Flicka)))))

Love and hugs.
Margherita

"Love is the One who masters all things;
I am mastered totally by Love."
(Rumi)

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
18 posted 2008-09-23 02:50 PM


Dear Margherita, thank you for your warm words and for that wonderful three-way hug - you, Flicka and me!

- Owl

LindsayP
Member Elite
since 2007-07-28
Posts 3410
Australia, Victoria
19 posted 2008-09-23 10:22 PM



The love you felt for Flicka shines through

in your poem my dear, thank you for sharing.

Lindsay

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
20 posted 2008-09-23 11:55 PM


Oops, Kin!  I didn't see your reply.  Thank you so much for this.  I remember you telling me about your horsy life.  That bond is indescribable, yet we try to get as close as we can to describing it, don't we?

Thanks, Lindsay.  To know Flicka was to love him - and to meet him was to know him.  Imagine how I knew and loved him having known him for the 20½ years that I was his, and the 2 preceding years that I and my children knew and rode him!

- Owl

suthern
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since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
21 posted 2008-10-12 10:39 AM


When you write of your Flicka, you remind me of my Lady... a palomino who was willing to meander along with me because she knew that when we got to a dirt road in the forest, I'd let her run... she was absolutely convinced she was a racehorse. *G* Lady wasn't gentle, though... she'd been mistreated before coming to live with us and didn't mind baring her teeth if she felt I was out of line. *S*

You've written a beautiful memory... and invited me into mine. *S*

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
22 posted 2008-10-12 11:30 AM


Thank you Ruth, for telling me about your palamino (suchhhhhh a beautiful colour!), Lady.  When Lady joins Flicka - he will meet her at the gates of Heaven - she will no longer bare her teeth, because her unhappy experiences before she had you for a mother, will be forgotten and Flicka will introduce her to everyone and show her around Heaven and also show her where the green, green pastures are and they will play and be happy and talk about you and me and lots of other things.  If she has already arrived in Heaven, be sure that she and Flicka are firm and happy friends!  Thank you for reading about my beloved Flicka.

- Owl

Bill Charles
Member Patricius
since 2000-07-11
Posts 10619
highways, & byways, for now
23 posted 2008-10-12 03:44 PM


OwlSA - I didn't know about Flicka, but I did know it was written for and about a very good friend. Well done...

BC

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
24 posted 2008-10-13 01:43 PM


Thank you for understanding about Flicka.  He was/is (one of my) son(s), my friend, my confidante . . . my world.

- Owl

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