by Christine Valters Paintner
She escapes her father’s hungry grasp and gaze, walks days under sapphire sky, sun a squeezed out orange, mouth full of dust, feet flinch from so many steps, seeks a place to rest and linger. Her horse walks by her side, never wavers, ivory pillar legs, wide back, brown eyes scan ahead, then his foot catches on a stone, stumbles briefly, pulls back firmly. In that spot water rushes up beneath his hoof, first spray, then fountain and Dympna is overcome, dances under the cool stream’s surge, splashes her friend playfully, drinks, trembles, drops to her knees and knows this ground is holy, this water is holy, that her equine companion has opened a door she’d been longing to enter.
Christine Valters Paintner is a Benedictine oblate living in Galway, Ireland with her husband where they lead pilgrimages to sacred places. She is the author of twelve books of nonfiction on contemplative practice and the arts and her poems have been published in journals in the U.S. and Ireland including Tiferet, Anchor, Presence, Spiritus, and U.S. Catholic. Her first collection of poems, Dreaming of Stones, was published by Paraclete Press. Her latest poetry collection is “The Wisdom of Wild Grace” from Paraclete Press. You can find more of her writing and poetry at AbbeyoftheArts.com.
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