The Mycenaean artist knew
only by hearsay what he drew
but see how much he understood.
He has the lion crush the deer
while others flee and one, in fear
(or maybe it feels gratitude)
looks back and sees what makes the hunter pause.
Confusing the effect and cause ,
we make the kill that halts the chase
contain the germ of sacrifice.
The herd can graze now, less alert.
The chosen one that's weak or flawed
intercedes for them with god
reluctantly, and yet the hurt
is over by the time the others gain
safety on the swarming plain.
7
In a million years the habit forms
grim, but not without its charms,
fascinations that adhere
to clotted bowl or dripping spear
and pleasure deeper than mere lust
(though kin to it, as mud to dust)
sees Antigone go down
sub tectum eius,
bride of stone,
or watches Christ ascend the hill
reiterating "Not my will
but thine be done" - and yet we say
he wouldn't have it another way.
8
If
we could talk a moment here,
only a moment, free of fear
that you're an echo, I the source .
but that's the essence of the curse .
