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A Wild Horse
Legacy: The Saga Begins is a 14-chapter narrative
poem written by Michael Pietrack. In this excerpt,
the young and fearful protagonist Abelbee
receives guidance from his father, Baldwinbee.
“Imagine both a man and wild horse,
a clash of strategy and will and force.
The animal refuses to be ridden,
like being tamed and hacked was most forbidden.
“The horse then flares its nostrils, whines its neighs,
and tries intimidating kick displays.
But undeterred he ropes the fierce equine
and when he mounts the stud, their strengths entwine.
“The punching force that was at first opposing,
that mountain made of muscle first imposing,
was now controlled by reins held in his hands,
so that the wrangled stallion heeds commands.
“Your fear can prove to be an enemy,
but if corralled, a spurring energy.
To master fear with bridle, bit, and bar,
is how the gallant gallop fast and far.”
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Michael Pietrack is a writer, businessman, and former baseball player who resides in Colorado.
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Thank you for posting this. Also, thanks to all who came to the virtual launch party a couple weeks ago.
You draw a really good picture here, Michael. I love “flares its nostrils, whines its neighs.”
Thank you Paul, I appreciate you commenting.
Paul, I really enjoyed your poem “Child’s Garden” – I rad that with a nostalgic smile. It reminded me to let my children play.
There are some nice details here. The fable of the wild horse being tamed is reminiscent of one by Aesop, but less cautionary and more inspiring. Brief excerpts, though, don’t do justice to the scope of this thing, where the little moral lessons and allegories are punctuated by action-adventure scenes.
I admit I am a bit biased regarding my appreciation of this work, having just returned from attending the fabulous in-person launch party in Colorado. The large venue Michael rented was beyond capacity and a lot of people had to stand in the back. And it was nice to see the faces of Evan Mantyk, James Sale, and Susan Jarvis Bryant via video recordings as they spoke about the book’s impact!
“Legacy” has been selling quite well on Amazon and has already stacked up a lot of reviews in the little more than a month since it became available. It is probably the most commercially successful long formal narrative poem written in the last hundred years. This makes it a significant achievement not only for what it is, but for what it symbolizes regarding the revival of classical poetry.
The audiobook version really showcases Michael’s acting/narrating talent, in which he convincingly does a wide range of accents for the different characters:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Legacy-Audiobook/B0BSZYNBQP?qid=1675899466&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=772YQ1V1H5554BVE6Z8W&pageLoadId=uNaBMykUxWGGULAL&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c
Andrew, I cannot thank you enough for this comment. It is validating to see Legacy take off the way it has, and to have you and the mentioned poets behind the work is rewarding it itself. When you write a long narrative poem, it’s difficult to submit an extract that stands alone. This poem is one of my personal favorites because in my life I’ve been both paralyzed by fear and propelled by it. In the few times that I’ve been able to coral fear and ride it, I’ve found that fear is quite a spurring energy. But the brave master fear and it becomes a thing controlled like reigns. Anyway, I hope the group enjoys this poem and looks into getting behind Legacy. Thanks again, ABB.
Michael, I love the extract and wish you every success with this highly entertaining, beautifully written poetic tale for all the family… a tale that shines a golden ray of hope in a troubled world. I wish you every success with your book.
Thank Susan. I’m grateful to have you in Legacy’s corner. The video of you at the launch party was a hit. Many many thanks!
Ha ha ha!!! Yes, it was good to be there at the book launch if only in video format. It’s great this is getting so much attention and success. The last two lines are especially powerful:
“…To master fear with bridle, bit, and bar,
is how the gallant gallop fast and far.”
The alliteration as well as the rhyme is really well judged aside from the fact that all heroes have to apply these principles in order to master fear – given all the ‘fear’ that is being propagated on social media (think Covid, think students being warned of violent content in Harry Potter!) then mastering fear is what we need to learn about.
Thank you, James, for all your support and direction. I’m glad you highlighted those lines, because I cherish them. For me, “gallant gallop” was a writer’s pay-off.
I’ve been enjoying reading HellWard and am excited about StairWell.
It’s very difficult to sustain rhyming couplets and keep it interesting, but Michael Pietrack achieves it. As others have commented his alliteration is simply superb, causing us to gallop along with the wild horse. The mimetic power of real poetry! I sincere hope Michael Pietrack’s epic fable is read around the world, as it is so inspiring, and will hopefully catalyst the birth of a new generation of poets.
High praise and I hope Legacy achieves the very thing you highlighted. Thank you so much!
Your poem is such an apt comparison of the will of a horse to that of man. I particularly loved the concluding words, “gallant gallop fast and far.”
Roy, thank you so much for reading the poem and feeling moved to comment. It means a lot coming from you. Fear is likened to a wild horse that seems intimidating, but if we can just corral it and direct it, it becomes a force that we can use. Thanks again!