Sacrifice

Lead me with your hidden blade
Into the depths of sacred stone
To where our ancestors bones are laid
Beside the weeping walls.
Do not tell me of the plans you’ve made
To offer up my bleeding heart
Tell me we’ve come to bow our heads
And give thanks to timeless souls.

As I kneel before the battered skulls
Remove your blade in silence
Let me not hear the sharp intake of breath
Or the beating of your quickened heart.
As your foot falls beside my bare calves
Let me think you’ve come to kneel
Beside me as a friend, in unison as kin
Let expectation linger of your voice raised with mine

Let your hand not tremble and the blade be swift
Give my eyes no time to see
The look of hunger that coats you flesh
Or the twisted sneer that burns your lips.
And as my body falters and the blood runs free
May knowledge come with winged rejoice
Of glories and of rich rewards
And of evil that from hearth now flees.