Poem For Archie

The great beast had charged

But she stood firm

And now astride the thing she rides,

Straight backed and proud.

Muscles sting and twitch,

Linked to the flesh of the beast

Tics of its own beneath her skin.

Skin glows with her ancestor's marks

Smudged now with sweat and just a little blood.

But she has proved her worth

Her value now,

Life laid before her, as it should be.

She bows her head

Remembers those who fell.

Weary now, she nears her home.

Nearly blind, she hears the shouts,

Children's screams at the beast.

She smiles.

It is done.