SACRIFICE

This cold night tasted of death
With no freshness on the crisp air,
Under a waxing moon a stench,
The last oxen slaughtered, a winters food
But first we had to kill.

Battle was near, the march to war upon us
This was a night for sacrifice, a Druids decree.
Where augeries are sifted, sorted and sieved
My lord Merlin has cast his runes in judgement,
The Gods awaiting blood on the throwboard.

Flames licked high into the darkness
The Druids love fire, A pathway to the Gods,
And the brooding hill fort of Caer Brau shone.
Its brightness held the walking dead at bay,
For this night was Sahmains eve.

Chanting Druids enriched the brew of enchantments
A young man, bound and naked appeared,
Flanked by Merlins deranged guards he shivered,
But in ecstasy not fear, moon touched by mandrake.

An owl shrieked in the shadows, a cry of the dead
My warband to a man groped for iron,
Cadeyrn and Luigsech prayed to Bel to deter evil omen.
Nuahan and the dreaded warrior Culhwych spat, I closed my eyes and whispered for Mithras.

A pure white banner lay before the naked man
And Merlin arms aloft towered above him.
The scene full of portent as the Druid took a knife,
Serpent like the blade swayed, transfixed we all gazed
The screaming started then, eviscerated the man fell.
Guts slithered over the banner trailing blood.

Merlin gazed at the entrails, steaming, living coils
Pulsing, draining the victim of life.
The writhing stopped, the final gasps of agony,
"Make for battle Arthur of Britain"
We cheered, the omens were good
The Gods would pour forth venom from the skies.

Arthur, his eyes on the man sacrificed for a battle knelt.
"Who was he? Did he have to die?"
"Fate is in the hands of the Gods, he was my son" Merlin wiped the blade and left.

We marched, an army filled with the Gods fury
A young man gave his life for Britain,
Many more would do the same
On the battlefield of Mynedd Badon,
For the Saxons were waiting
We were at war.

Phil Hall  August 2013