Agnus Dei
Mitchell Olson
Poetry Writing
Agnus Dei
Between Bethlehem and Kerioth[1] sagging date trees sway,
And thirty shards of silver stars light that ragged way,
The Oracle at Delphi[2] and Nostradamus[3] in his grave
Tear about in senseless dreams where Agnus Dei[4] plays.
Listen close to ghastly hosts
Who growl through their grins,
Ancient ghosts offer toasts
To sweet and simple sin.
Entwined in bed she softly says,
“Do you love me…really?”
I kiss her fairly sure
She only means her memory.
I’ve cried in the cradle where Iscariot was raised,
I’ve slithered up an apple tree while Agnus Dei grazed,
From fields of flax I gaze and laugh at a temple razed,
I suckle on the sacrament while the chapels blaze.
I think I sense a goldfinch[5]
Choking in her throat,
An apple seed breaks and bleeds
To keep our ark afloat.
She bites my skin as I slide in;
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal”>Rabid rabbits in our holes;
We stink of gin and pathogens
That hunger at the soul.
Isaac[6] now with crook in arm cringes beside Cain[7],
As Agnus Dei accepts the knife on the linen swain,
Sybaris[8] and Babylon sink into the plain,
Worshipping an absent god and deifying pain.
I exalt the sting of salt
Seasoning her skin,
I can’t halt this tumult
Once the tilt[9] begins.
But I know belief flows
In riptides underneath,
Waves will toss the sailors off
Who cling to certainty.
Holy men in wailing walls weep for forty days,
For Calvary[10] and cavalry to make Meggido[11] wake,
The knell of Agnus Dei, the covenanted<span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; F
ONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA”>[12] break:
Remember now the Love of God died on a stake.
I can’t lie to save my life,
To theorize a trust;
A sleeping god would snore and nod
And know it all for lust.
Night wears on into dawn,
The knowing Sybil[13] cackles,
I’ve forged myself a fearful key
But long for kinder shackles.
While the Horsemen have their stamping steeds re-shod;
As failures and fools wield a cracked ruling rod;
I will study tinderbox steppes lonely man has trod;
I have remembered love and have renamed it god.
[1] The traditional birthplace of Judas Iscariot.
[2] A line of Ancient Greek prophetesses.
[3] A French prophet.
[4] Latin for “The Lamb of God,” meaning a sacrifice.
reast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA”>[5] A symbol for the Passion of Jesus (his crucifixion).
[6] Abraham’s son whom he offered up as a sacrifice.
[7] Of Cain and Abel; biblically, the first murderer.
[8] An Ancient Greek colony famous for excessive luxury.
[9] A joust.
[10] Another name for Golgotha, traditionally the crucifixion site of Jesus.
[11] A city-state in the Levant, and the Biblical site of the future “Armageddon” (Hill of Meggido).
[12] An agreement between people and a god.
wow….speechless you are really good-
Warning Comment
i like the picture on your front page.you know, with the middle finger?oh. and good entry. :](random)
Warning Comment
this piece is beautiful. pure art.
Warning Comment
farewell and adieu to you, spanish ladies; farewell and adieu to you ladies of spain, for we’ve received orders for to sail for old england. but we hope in a short while to see you again. we’ll rant and we’ll roar, like true british sailors; we’ll rant and we’ll roar, all across the south seas, for until we strike soundings in the channel of old england… sailor’s knots untie in placid waters.
Warning Comment