Common Chords

The shadow of a conductor’s baton
falls across the carefully orchestrated
concerto of Saratoga stallions...

         falls over racecourse soil
         soft as moss sonata,

         falls upon the rhythm of a
         valiantly galloped arpeggio,

         falls with the
         resonant reminder
         to reach a winning pitch,

         falls

at the top of the stretch,
tangling into sudden stumble,
snapping string
on antique equine instrument.

The tempo is
broken.

A grandstand chorale quits the Ode to Joy,
transposing, minor, into Requiem
as if directed by sudden, distant sirens.

Levitated quietly
onto gentle stranger’s
swinging stretchers, horse and rider
harmonize - an effortless, metronomed
coda won equally by each
in fated photo finish.