We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

about

Poem written and narrated by Christine Valters Paintner. Song adaptation by Simon de Voil.

lyrics

St. Columba and His Horse

The old man hobbles down the road
toward the monastery gate,
rests on a roadside stone,
hears clip-clopping of hooves approach
and his faithful companion arrive.

The horse nuzzles Columba’s shoulder,
shudders all down his white length
eyes glisten round and brown,
great teardrops pool and drop
sounding like rainfall.

Columba rests his forehead
against the horse’s broad skull,
closes his eyes and each imagines
the other, galloping together across
heather and buttercups.

The horse knows his dear friend
will soon be leaving and mourns
this coming loss, his hoof
scrapes the ground, tries to write
a word of goodbye,

then takes wildflowers in his teeth,
extends them to the saint, as if to say
his life was full of beauty and color,
but the petals are already wilting
in the summer sun.

The wisdom of the old sages rings,
“remember you will die” and on another day
this would prompt Columba to celebrate
the gift of a new morning, but today
death is as close as the horse’s warm nostrils,

he knows everything must
come to an end, even this love.
Columba rests there a long while
lets his cloak be soaked with tears,
breathing in scent of fur and fields.

---Christine Valters Paintner

From the poetry collection The Wisdom of Wild Grace (Paraclete Press)

credits

from Sound and Stillness: An audio collection of poems by Christine Valters Paintner, released August 9, 2020

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Abbey of the Arts image

Abbey of the Arts Galway, Ireland

Abbey of the Arts, in partnership with The Dancing Word, produces albums to inspire soulful connection to ancient monks and mystics, to Celtic practice and tradition, to the sacred feminine, and to Earth and her creatures.

contact / help

Contact Abbey of the Arts

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Abbey of the Arts, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Seafood Sam joins the show to discuss his newest album, " Standing On Giant Shoulders".
listen now