"Sable"



Raised since a colt, in a humble, old stable
Ridden with field mice and potent bales of hay
The horse had a thick black coat, his first name was Sable
But that word alone could invoke fear in even the darkest array

Sable rode in the moonlight
Hair gleaming in the fire
Dead grass home to a tall burning pyre
And the crucifix was bright
Sable thought as he stared
Positive that some presence in the wood was eternally ensnared

Running as fast, as fast as his legs could bare
Sable was guided through a cold, midnight dream
He and his owner were last, which gave them a scare
Halfway back from town both heard a deafening scream

Master relieved the next morning, quietly slipped on his shoes
Sable's heart was still reigned by confusion
News arrived with no prior warning, headline said "Blacks are feeling blues"
The man started to cry as he realized he lived in an illusion

Sable didn't understand
For the duration of his life
Why that night had caused so much overbearing strife
But you and I have heard, as successors of this land
Pain inflicted on those innocent souls
Crying for change, trying to escape disaster's toll

That dead grass had burned, as Sable rode on
The loving family in the house had died with the cross
No matter how much the man yearned, for his and Sable's guilt to be gone
Sable didn't know the price of loss

One summer night the man drowned in alcohol;
His horse watched through the glass
As the life of his old friend quickly passed
Sable mourned the time spent and how his life would fall
Nostalgic reverberations sweeping throughout his being
Sable was faced with tragedy that appeared in all he was seeing

More dead with each blink, Sable's eyes told of age
Sometimes he would sleep for weeks at a time
His hooves would sink, into the mud trampled out of rage
Maybe sub-consciously he had understood his crime

The farm went to waste
As Sable's health declined
It was purchased by a black man to be economically refined
Void of all haste
Sable's brains were blown apart
By a black man in the barn, where the dark horse had his start



-Jake