"where they love to be..."

"Each individual must fill
her own niche in
time and eternity..."
- Mary Baker Eddy

emma's on deck
and clara's in the hole...

my heart leaps into
my throat...

this is it...

they are happy

they are where they love to
be
atop a saddle
astride a horse
dusty and
wild-haired from
the wind off columbia basin...

the gate opens,
partners paw and prance

and with the focus of
olympic athletes
they
enter the arena driven by a
single-minded
determination that
takes my breath away...

they are intrepid,
unflinching,
indomitable,
audacious...

boldly flying around barrels,
before they tear back through the center of
their universe like
fighter pilots returning from
a mission...

and then it's her sister's turn...
you may think they look alike...
but don't be
fooled by your eyes...
they
are each
their own...

the partnership each shares
with her horse is
as different as happiness
and joy

...and yet the same...

models of
restrained power
an urgency that
waits for just the right moment to
surge and
sit deep....
precision-tempered and
fearlessly wise

disciplined
daring
is their strength...

it never matters...
to either of 
them
which goes first

only that they
are there

at this moment,
in this place...

together...