Holly Willis
SADDLE UP!
SADDLE UP AND TAKE OFF! YOU ARE FREE AND EXORBITANT.
THE WIND IS FAST AND FRESH. THE AIR IS NEW. THE SUN IS BRIGHT.
FIRE DIES. SMOKE ALWAYS LINGERS. LEATHER CREASES AT THE FOLD.
FUR IS EXUBERANT. FIBRES BLEND TOGETHER. WE BECOME ONE.
THE WAY YOU MOVE. THE WAY YOU RUN. YOU WILL NEVER BE BROKEN.
YOU WILL NEVER BE FIXED. LOVE IS SACRED. ACTION IS DELICIOUS.
HAIR IS IMMATERIAL. PAIN IS LIMITED. MOTION IS THE CENTRE.
SPRINGTIME COMES. THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER.
YOUR DREAMS WILL BE BEAUTIFUL.
THE WATER IS WARM.
Holly Willis (she/her) is a third-year student at Victoria University of Wellington, studying Communications Design, Film, and Creative Writing. Her poetry book SADDLE TRAMP is the result of her final undergraduate capstone project, and depicts the complicated experience of coming out and self-discovery through the lens of the cowboy’s journey.