At a pan at night

In the dark night I hear horse hoofs
coming on thundering
and there are sparks
bursting from the quartz rocks.

In the sky
there’s a sickle moon
and the hairs
on my arms raise

while blue thunder
fall like shots around me
and I can smell fire and sulphur
on the wind.

For a moment
while a church bell
rings of midnight in the distance,
there’s a horse standing neighing
on its back feet.

Just one look
frightens me past being awake
when another lightning bolt
strikes down next to us
and a horse
with a man without head
passes me at great speed.

In the distance at a ruin
I see an old woman in white
with a shrill voice
cutting through the night.

“Can nothing stop you
Jan van der Meer? ”

[Reference: Die ruiter van skimmelperdpan by A.G. Visser. A legend from the second Anglo-Boer war.]

poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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