A Different Kind of Altar: Viannah

May 4, 2020 Kate Belew with Viannah (Rockville, Maryland)

There are stars inside the last wild horse

And inside those stars a shudder 

like time being born again into the heart

a different life blood made from that of

reeds and sky and lethargy, which can only mean

that we are truly not alone.

Bound away across that wide sargasso sea

towards a glittering horizon crafted from

foraged heartbreak and withering fortitude,

a different kind of altar. I waited for

the thundering of hooves and lightning

I waited until that last wild horse 

was forgotten among the laughter of elders

into a different kind of fire, the kind

that kisses the sun and gives life to 

these stars.