night fell
a storm crawled in from the west
lightning sprang from the clouds
and fell upon the cliffs
the mountainsides
a man on horseback found a cabin
lit by no fire
with a stable beside it
he helloed and Hallooed without answer
then walked his horse into the stable
dismounted and hung there a moment
between two worlds
the rider's and the pedestrian's
he soon caught his balance though
without thinking deep thoughts
he unsaddled and unbridled his horse
found food for it
and brushes to care for its coat
and only after the horse was cared for
plodded through wind and rain to the cabin
it was clean inside but deserted
whoever had lived here had left
but their pride demanded they leave it clean
maybe more
he found firewood still stacked
matches that still flared
made himself a fire in the fireplace
another in the stove
and slept in the space between them
but before that he sat and stared into the fire
and remembered old stories
the war on Troy and Odysseus' journey home
Orpheus' trip to hell for his wife
Joan's victories for her king and her reward
and lately the endless wars
in which we try to find a story of our own
or even a way out we can call victory
the man shuddered and went to sleep
he dreamed an enormous eagle
carried him across land after land
and everywhere below him men battled
men fought in forests and deserts
on mountains and in marshes
on plains, on steppes, and even on tundra
finally the eagle flew him out to an island
somewhere in the middle of the Pacific
somewhere big enough to farm
the eagle promised him seven years of peace
and flew away
in the morning a woman woke him
and asked where the hell they were
and how he had gotten her there
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