Paserik Burial on the Uqok Plateau

by Ari Berk

She sees them yet resplendent in her glass:

Wild and noble procession of horses

on the plain. How will she regard them

from the vantage of the grave?

In the dark days after translation

She will sing to them of wind and storms

Then running as shadows about the hills

the ghosts of horses throw their heads

bereft of all constraint. Reflections

of her tempest-song, they stamp

in the earth with thunder hooves. Later,

in her sinking mind, the storm begins

to quell and her steeds assume repose

as clouds disperse upon the secret

silvered face of glass. Now all is still

within the covered grave where

remains of Queen and beast are held

in ice below the ground, apart from time.

And a cape of marmot fur folds, then

freezes to her rotting frame.

Now six horses come to know their bones

though the mirror is unchanged.