Dark Verdict
by A Michigan Skylark
When all your losses,
staunched and bound,
break open—gadarene
and drag you faint and wild
back to the road
close on your heels
(at a dead run)
he calls your name,
carrying home
in his open hands.
You'll follow him back
to hardship and routine.
You'll take his orders
like a gift,
and heal again.
*#*#*
Note: At the end of "Dark Verdict," there's a moment after Slim leaves for home that Jess turns away from him and looks back up the open road. Whatever Jess thought he would find there is gone. His worried expression softens into a smile, he turns Traveler, and happily gallops after Slim.
Matthew 8:28 tells of a herd of demon-possessed swine who run madly into the sea and drown. The adjective "Gadarene" is derived from Gadara, the city from which the swine came. I love this word and the wild self-destructive image it evokes.