Prophet of Midnight
he was torn asunder
at the Solstice, dismembered and disemboweled
by seven sisters dancing to Orpheus
and the Muses – then sewn back together
by one-hundred paradisal virgins
dawn of that next day . . .

but the parts – more than one sacrifice
was disarticulated on the altar of their ire –
his left arm black, right
mongoloid; left leg native red,
right Inuit with frostbitten toes;
his cock a circumcised bit of Latin islands;
both buttocks Greek as his myths . . .

Tonight he croons electric rhapsodies
knowing he is to be crucified
at midnight’s fatal stroke
to enable his inevitable
sunrise apotheosis.

dmpitchford 12/31/2023