Agnes Ayres' Fall

in the silent film "The Sheik"

she falls from the horse
            down the dune

rolling                   still

falls down the horse
             down dune

still down
             sand saddling her back
             up the dune

she falls down

still horse still
              waiting

its back still
the dune

still she falls
               down the saddle
               rides the dune down

sanddune falls
               down itself

shadow falls under
               saddle falls on top

saddled dune
               she falls from

down the still saddle

she       rolling       back up

still mounted
             falls from the still
             horse on the dune

Published under the name Jeanette Karhi in Phoebe: Journal of Gender & Cultural Critiques, Fall 2005, Vol. 17, No. 2