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The Horse and Rider
Once there was a horse, and on the horse there was a rider. How
handsome they looked in the autumn sunlight, approaching a
strange city! People thronged the streets or called from the high
windows. Old women sat among flower pots. But when you looked
about for another horse or another rider, you looked in vain. My
friend, said the animal, why not abandon me? Alone, you can find
your way here. But to abandon you, said the other, would be to
leave a part of myself behind, and how can I do that when I do not
know which part you are?
From Faithful and Virtuous Night. Reproduced with kind permission from Carcanet.