The Crossing

[Stephen Whiteside]

The Crossing

The water dropped from the mangroves' roots, and the mud stretched flat and grey,
And I led the horse to the rocky point, where I hoped I would find a way;
The day was young, and the townsfolk slept, and the horse, it was sleepy, too,
And I prayed, if I kept both my nerves and my wits, I'd not have a hullabaloo.

I stripped off my clothes at the end of the point, till my body was naked and pure
As the day I was born, and I tied them together on top of the saddle, secure;
Then I gripped hard the reins on the right hand side, and we both slipped into the sea,
And we made our escape from that horrible place just as silent as silent can be.

It took my breath (and the horse's, too) at the first plunge under the waves,
But we kicked our legs and we started to swim, for we wanted no watery graves;
Its nostrils flared and its big eyes bulged and its breath came in starts and fits,
But it kept to its task in the inky dawn, and I loved the dumb creature to bits.

We were caught in the current 'bout halfway across, and it carried us down the coast,
But there wasn't a lot we could do about that, and each of us stuck to our post;
And if there were sharks, well, they left us alone, though a cormorant flew overhead,
And all things considered, it all went much smoother than hoped for, it has to be said.

Two hours it took us to make that crossing, or maybe a little more,
And it sure felt good as I felt my feet take hold on the distant shore;
I thought of the servants all seated for breakfast, I thought of the bullying boss,
And imagined the timing would be about right for him to discover his loss.

Well, it's ten long years since that fateful day, and myself and the horse, we have aged,
And I still have a laugh to myself at times, how the boss must have ranted and raged;
We're a good, strong team, and I've no regrets. She's a wonderful creature to ride,
And the memory's fond of the wonderful bond that we forged as we battled the tide.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Now that is beautiful Stephen - thoroughly enjoyed reading it. What was the horses name

You seem to be dodging a few sharks of late

Cheers

Maureen

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, Maureen. Yes, I do, don't I?

He was always just known as 'Bob's horse'. No doubt Bob had his own name for it, but none of us ever knew it.

[Heather]

Carried me along nicely Stephen. Much enjoyed.

Heather

[Stephen Whiteside]

Like the current, eh? Thanks.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Bob's Horse! Well I guess that would be right - my Bob's horse was called Beaumaris - but then he was jointly owned supposedly.