A story poem by Pauline Young

In the Middle Kingdom long ago,

there lived a gifted horseman.

He could ride so fast his fame traveled far

They King heard about him

and sent for him one day,

His majesty gave the horseman a challenge

with a rather unique reward.   

“Gifted Horseman,” said the King,

“Show me how fast you can ride,

and I’ll show you how generous I can be!

The entire Middle Kingdom belongs to me.   

But I’ll give you title to any land

You can cover on horseback in one go,

All the grounds you gallop over  

Will be yours to keep by my royal order.

But on one condition: no stopping for any reasons,

Not for food, drinks nor rest!”    

The gifted horseman lost no time.

He hopped on the horse, his faithful friend for years,

and began the gallop of his life.

He rode and rode, sun on his back, winds in his face,

His whip all over his horse’ back,

“Faster, Faster!” the horseman cried,

“More, more, more, all this land, now all MINE!”

Trembling with excitement,

The horseman rode faster and faster

In the hope to cover more grounds.

He rode until morning turned into night.

He rode until darkness returned to light.

Still he chanted, “Faster, More, Mine!”

Whipping his horse left and right,

he rode until he could no longer tell day from night.

He rode until his head became light.

He rode until the gallop turned into a trot.

Still he murmured, “Faster, more, mine!”

Suddenly he felt a violent jerk,

and heard a piercing cry from under him.

“Hey, what now?” he shot a fierce glance at his friend;

his whip raining down, harder than ever, on his blood-stained back.

“Don’t you stop now, we can still have more!” cried the horseman.

But try as he might, his horse had no breadth left to take another step.

As the horse collapsed, the horseman fell to the ground.

As he fell, he caught an upside-down glimpse

of the land he had amassed, in a hurry, with all their might.

Fatigued and disoriented, he must still get up to do one last thing:

lay his companion to rest in his new domain.

“In this massive land I’ve claimed,” cried the horseman,

“all I need to bury my friend is a small plot of land”

And to lay his own weary body to rest, for good,

all he needed was another small strip of land,

As he lay beside his good old friend,

He saw the sky above them stretch into eternity.

And the land he now owned, by order of the King,   

stretched far beyond his eyes could see.  

Tears welled up in his eyes. 

“My gift is spent,” he whispered, “My life is finished.”   

He wailed, “What’s the use of all this land!”

466 words 

(02-01-08)