Evening whinnied

and through the window

I saw a pair of nostrils

flare in the night air.

The animal shimmered

in this pasture of darkness

outside my apartment.

I opened the front door

to meet his wild stare.

We sized the other up,

did not speak. I gnashed

my teeth. His hooves struck

concrete like a match.

As lightning loosed inside,

I kept fear at a distance,

stepping closer to understand

the history of his storm.

There was a gentle in his thunder.

His eyes were the color

of wounded ego.

We stood hours together

in quietude, healing what

had groomed us into glass.