The Hoofs of Pegasus

Chapter 34: THE PATTERAN

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About This Book

A collection of short lyrical poems that weave mythic and religious imagery with intimate observations of nature and interior feeling. Many pieces draw on classical figures and Renaissance art, while others reflect domestic scenes, sleep, music, and sacrament; recurrent motifs include night and light, birds, water, and ritual. Voice shifts between contemplative reverie and pastoral detail, exploring longing, faith, and creative impulse. The sequence moves through imagistic vignettes—moonlit meadows, bathing maidens, sacramental harvests, and dreams—linking private emotion to larger spiritual and mythical resonances.

THE PATTERAN

I’M married to a proper wife, My home is clean and neat, But I hear the gypsies calling me, I love the dancing feet.

I long to up and follow them Over the rolling moor; I sicken of my own hearth-fire, The lilacs by the door.

I long to see the sweep of stars Wheel nightly overhead; I want the four strong winds to be The four posts of my bed.

I long to wake at dawn When all the world is grey and cool, And slip into the lonely depth Of a mountain pool.

Three meals my wife sets for me— Enough for any man. But on her freshly sanded floor I see the patteran.