On Earth Ponies (A Hymn)
The works and the days they are
Done with, the long stretch of
Agrarian years they are
Done with all, the call of the trees is
Done with, and accomplished the
Apple demands—family and the
Weight of duty.
Oh, but the Earth was ever mine—
Ever faithful ever true.
Ponies of the earth, we the movers
Of the grain, who tend the vineyards
Of the Grapes, who are the growers
Of Apples—
Who love the Good Earth.
Oh, but the Earth was ever mine—
Ever faithful ever true.
No flyer of clouds am I, nor my
Ponies those who build pillars
Of cloud—These hooves built for
Hard things are, built for the
Slow things are to guard and for
Living things are the hooves of
The Ponies I come from meant.
Oh, but the Earth was ever mine—
Ever faithful ever true.
And I have no magic because I need
None, need no wings, need no
Wine of heady sort to grace tongue
And no mysteries in runes. I have
World enough, and time,
And commands to ask not of
Tomorrow
But only to enjoy the lilies of the
Field
Which is to say
That the love of Earth is mine and
The World is enough.
On Pegasi—A Primer
When you ride the lightning, it doubles back and
Without fail, you’ll lose it. Without fail,
Promise you with all my heart, you’ll
Get that aching. The Aching, you’ll think, with a big proper
Capital A to make it all special. There’ll be
Lightning in your brain and lightning in your heart and
Lightning in your eyes. Son,
When it crashes, keep your wings steady and
Your eyes rolling all about. You’ll want to play
And revel and love in the storm, want to
Live, but it’s not time to live, it’s time to work and
All that entails and means.
It’s like preening, when a pretty mare wants you, when
You win—that’s what a storm’s like, son. It’s all sound
And fury, noise and preparation. Your throat closes up,
Your eyes don’t wanna stay still, and your hooves shake in midair
And that is okay It’s okay, though the wind tear and the rain pour and
The lightning yell its rage at you,
It’s all okay. World needs a few strong storms now and then
And I guess that means you too.
Concerning Unicorns, a Lesson
My son, my apprentice:
Listen
Closely, keep your eyes straight
And your mind clear. Open your heart
And keep your horn lit--keep those
Orbs balanced in harmony with
Themselves and the Song-spun
Universe. Now--
I'm going to tell you what it all means
Surely you've felt it
Seen it
Creeping at the corners, shy before
Your questing, searching eye.
Our tribe guided the sun
In its glory
And the moon
In its splendor
And we counted the stars and knew them
Each by name. Yet that does not
Satisfy. Does it?
Our brothers understood the earth
And our sisters understood the sky
But what did we understand?
What was there apart from
The Good Earth and the Joyful Sky?
You've seen glimpses of what we
Knew in your studies already,
Lifting training weights, lighting up
Rooms, adjusting heat and cold,
Reading in silent vaults.
You've glimpsed the recursive, spiraling
Of existence like the grooves in your horn.
Beneath the recursion
"there lies an inviolate layer"
So also beneath our feet and above our horns
There too is an inviolate Mystery.
Do not lose your focus,
For we know the Mystery now.
So eager for knowledge and so
Eager for something to show our brothers
And our sisters, we chased it and chased it--
Finally we too would return with
Something of worth and they would
Love us and we would be worthy
Of their love.
We locked ourselves in high towers
And in endless libraries,
We searched the vast darkness of space
And we delved into the darkness
In the corners of our hearts,
And with time we became cold.
Our desperate love grew cancerous
Until it became disdain for companions
And the revels of our former friends.
(We were cold just fine in our
Finery, before ever the Windigo!)
That's good for now. Put your
Tools of practice away. Come down
And eat.
The Mystery? If you insist.
In all of our grasping, we failed to see
That all alone beneath all things
In decency and order there beat Love
At the heart of all magic worth casting.
When you weave arcane energy
You weave your heart-strands,
You weave your own world-love
And make of it a light for your friends in the dark.
We thought the answer was to Know.
We never needed to know.
Our brothers and sisters loved us
All along.
A Pegasus to fight for me
And an earth pony to sing for me
And tell yourself:
I will repay their love with my own.
Power, mystery, lore, philosophy, riches
And yet.
It is the greatest of these.