Two Poems After Felix Thioller, by Sister Lou Ella

The Horse Trainer, by Felix Thiollier (France) 1899

lady and her horse on a snowy day 1899 
                                                                      
they dance 
two black flames 
wind lean flickering against 
time then  
and time now stilled . . .  
was one  
once lost  
during winter’s first snow  
finally home 
yet still wild as fire 
did she    
breathless 
was also lost then found 
 in her running

**

lady and her horse: a photograph 
 
winter’s first snow 
timeless in sepia 
two figures 
black with black 
running 
their breath icy froth 
can you smell the cold 
 
             falling 

                        soft 
                        white 
                        silent

Sister Lou Ella

Sister Lou Ella has a master’s in theology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and is a former teacher and librarian. She is a certified spiritual director as well as a poet and writer.  Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines such as America, First Things, Emmanuel, Third Wednesday, and new verse news as well as in four anthologies. Global Sisters Report has published six of her articles.  She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2017 and  2020. Her first book of poetry entitled she: robed and wordless was published in 2015. (Press 53.) Five poems from her book which had been set to music by James Lee III were performed by opera star Susanna Phillips, principal clarinetist Anthony McGill of the New York Philharmonic and Grammy-nominated pianist Mayra Huang at Y92 in New York City. The group of songs is entitled “Chavah’s Daughters Speak.”