CHARLIE WALKER

In the convoluted recesses of My Smiling memory Prances a proud stud horse I can still hear the syncopated cadence of his hooves Trotting through the milky way at night And witness the blue black shimmer of his taut coat Like moon rays on a high tide Grandpa called him Charlie Walker Powerful yes puissant A veritable mare stalker He would fight any trespassing stallion His mates were the most select And his colts were Grandpa’s Mexican medallions This black stallion fired my pen and imagination As a little boy seeking to define his shiny rippling muscles Aphrodite’s amorous snorting toy Alexander’s Bucephalus without malice And in the precent of pure hearted Woman A bit coy Feared by the aggressors of the ranch Respected athlete of the rodeo arena Charlie Walker could crush the head of a rattle snake in the morning Let a child pull on mane or tail in the afternoon Only to move with the grace of a camouflaged matador And his gentle spirit resurrected in the magical limelight of A full moon at midnight N. R. Vay II San Antonio, TX