As the prizewinning rider and horse become one
in the practiced precision of jumps,
so Zona rides astride earth itself,
her warrior stance balanced and sure,
her feet and legs steady above
the galloping, pivoting ground. 

But the air into which she looks up
is a whole other element
beneath which her powerful spine arches back
with a whisper, like a reed or a stalk. 

In the vast and voluminous air her bare throat
yields to the kiss of a breeze
and one hand relaxes her martial grip,
and one hand touches her hair and her face
as curiously as lover's hand might
that yearns to open her life to surprise:
sudden danger and wonders
that fall from the skies.