Inspired by a writing by Yeats from 'The Wind Among the Reeds.' that he wrote in 1899 entitled:
"15. Michael Robartes bids his Beloved be at Peace." In its entire form below (just so you can see what I liked about it.) ;)

"I HEAR the Shadowy Horses, their long manes a-shake,
Their hoofs heavy with tumult, their eyes glimmering white;
The North unfolds above them clinging, creeping night,
The East her hidden joy before the morning break,
The West weeps in pale dew and sighs passing away, 5
The South is pouring down roses of crimson fire:
O vanity of Sleep, Hope, Dream, endless Desire,
The Horses of Disaster plunge in the heavy clay:
Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat
Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, 10
Drowning love’s lonely hour in deep twilight of rest,
And hiding their tossing manes and their tumultuous feet."
W.B. Yeats (1865–1939)


"Shadowy Horses"

by SilverCelticMoon

I hear the shadowy horses
... galloping ... galloping through the moonlit sky.
I hear the sound of their harnesses jingle
and see the stars spin, spark and die under their hooves.

Manannan Mac Lir is coming on his chariot
... coming ... coming to take the souls of the dead
back with him to their eternal rest after long lives spent
warring and fighting for food and land, with no rest.

The full moon shines with an unearthly glow
... lighting ... lighting the way for them to go
- the shadowy horses, tossing their manes
blowing breath out of their flaring nostrils,
galloping, galloping....galloping forevermore.



* This poem is based upon the Irish belief that the Irish God, Manannan Mac Lir (see further details below), drives his chariot drawn by the "Shadowy Horses" across the waves (the crests of waves are actually the shadowy horses' manes) to collect the dead for the journey to the next world.

Manannan Mac Lir: (May-nah-naun) Ireland, Wales; a shapeshifting god of the sea, magic, navigators, commerce, storms, rebirth, weather. The chief Irish sea god whose special retreat was the Isle of Man. In Wales his name was Manawydan ap Llyr. He had several magical weapons and a suit of armor that made him invisible; and his swine kept the Tuatha De Danann from aging.