Druids

    Finding the cache of bones,
    Spear-points and skulls,
    Seeing the large bones
    Split for marrow
    Convinced the archaeologists
    Of ritual sacrifice
    Midway through

    The Roman invasion.
    Force was of no avail
    Against its Legions.
    Blood needed to be
    Shed to appease the
    Gods; then even so
    The Romans won.

    Who can say what they
    Would have done given the
    Coercive sway of priests?
    Some would no doubt
    Slip away to avoid a
    Bloody end as today
    Occurs symbolically:

    The insistence on religious
    Rules, bowing one’s head
    To God or God’s priests
    And how you bow
    And sing and suppose.
    Don’t think you’ll slip
    Away without a wound.