her indian name was red horse woman because her mother gave birth to her in the brood mare barn in the stall with cinnamon a fine sorrel mare who was also giving birth to tinto, a strong chestnut son who became one of the major stallions in our stock horse breeding program
but her older brother randy, our wrangler, and i called her jolly, she was always filled with laughter and warm hugs for everyone her smile radiated happiness and wisdom far beyond her years we all spent long hours working the horses riding fence and gathering stock we were partners she and i in so many ways we shared everything, our first crushes our first heart breaks all of our joys and all of our sorrows even her brother, randy, who was our teacher in all things horse, we were sisters by choice rather than birth and i thought we would always be close share everything nothing could break our friendship nothing could tear us apart until a drunk driver running a red light stole her from us, ripped her from our life tapestry with one thoughtless slam into his dark world
randy and i wanted to seek him out and stretch him out naked over a red ant hill with honey trails over his flesh to make him pay in some ancient indian way, make him feel the pain of our loss but standing in the cool pearlised peach of evening on the bank of the consumnes as we tossed her ashes into the four winds we heard her laughter shimmering alive across the universe, free whispering “i will always be with thee, always” and we hugged and gathered the threads of memory, of life and began to weave the patterns of living again and as the years have passed i have seen her often mounted on one of the great red horses she loved so much racing the tempest of life into the universe of forever her laughter echoing through the coulees and canyons of my soul always with me...
"we hugged
and gathered the threads of memory,
of life
and began to weave the patterns of living again
and as the years have passed"
Very enjoyable in all its sad and happy aspects woven from the tapestry of the fields where horses are birthed and the universe carries their memory all the time. Excellent...:)....
Posted 9 Years Ago
1 of 1 people found this review constructive.
9 Years Ago
she was a very important being in my life, thank you for the generous kind words
Quite beautiful in soul and memory of a loving, spirited sister,
may you always have those blessed shared memories to remind you of her
sweet kinship shared with both of you!
Beautiful artwork and amazing story. I like the people who love the horses. They treat them like friends and children. The horses know who to trust. Thank you dear friend for sharing the excellent story.
Coyote
jeannemarie, What an touching and detailed tribute to a forever friend taken way too soon from your life. I am a very emotional person and I can tell you that it moved me to tears. One reason is because of its sheer beauty, the other reason because it reminded me of MY friend, who died right before his 30th birthday...for whom I also wrote a tribute poem posted here. If you wish to search through my archives to read it I would be honored. It's called, "Marty (Then and Gone)." The best way I know to honor you for this gem of a write is to save it in my library favorites, where I can go back repeatedly to read this tremendous piece of writing brilliance. Your friend would be very proud of you, and thankful, as am I. take care...dan
It's hard to break the bonds of chosen sisterhood. Even with time and distance, and yes, death they linger with us. I think all whom we love stay with us really. A sad story and lovely tribute to a sister of the heart. Thank you for sharing a piece of Jolly with us.
Well penned!
I enjoyed this sad but also beautiful piece,
ups and downs you take the reader with you
on this journey:) Thanks for sharing and b-blessed!
you weave such tapestry with your words, Jeannemarie... the vivid colours you paint are always vibrant and rich; you have a great command of language; you make the reader run the gamut of emotion (in this case, love, sadness, anger and joy); and you tell the best stories in poetic form... I read this three times and at the end of each read i found myself overwhelmed by goosebumps... you are one of my favorite story tellers, that's for sure... well-done my friend!