Ritual for the Damned
We chose sacrifices
for the minotaur;
we all knew what it meant
to be
“sent off”.
(It sounded less cruel.)
We nailed up planks
and drew the sails,
we brought to the ship
seven youths (otherwise they would have built
with us)
and seven maidens (before, their mothers
strung ribbons through their hair)
and we sent them to a monster’s mouth
our tribute to old
King Minos,
an apology
for nothing we could stop.
(We thanked the stars that it was not us
until it was
our turn
to board that ship
and find, in a labyrinth,
ourselves before
the fangs of the beast;
we used to
build boats
and hold our tongues
too)
