Sanctuary, by Diana Stevens

Attacked by Wolves, by Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski (Poland) before 1885

Sanctuary

The mares
run fast, crystals
fly, ghosted into mist
spiralling across snow-covered
tundra
 
we flee
intemperate,
escaping yet pursued
by whip crack echoes, baying of 
wolfhounds
 
bleak skies
promise snowfall,
the troika runners skim
across the polished ice, onwards,
onwards
 
the steppe
resonates, as
in harmony bells and
pulsating hoof beats lead us to
freedom
 
at length,
hoar-frosted on
the horizon the goal
we must reach - sanctuary, to live,
to love.
 
Diana Stevens

Now retired, Diana Stevens lives in a coastal town in the east of Scotland. She is a regular member of Tyne & Esk Writers. A sonnet, "Craiglockhart" was commended in the 2017 Vernal Equinox competition of the Federation of Scottish Writers and another poem, "If You Close Your Eyes" placed second in the Writer of the Year (2017, Tyne & Esk Writers). Several poems have been published by The Fibonacci Review.  Her inspiration is often her garden or the sandy beaches and pinewoods of East Lothian.