Apollo Stands with Cassandra
Madeleine Dale
We see ourselves a bloody mirror
and we both know that this
is how it will end, with the kick
and cry of an animal to the alter.
A hecatomb here in the street, to
satiate some god who doesn’t care.
We have no split barley or white
fillets, nothing to pledge or plead,
but I could set a fire in this arrow-
shot look, and let it burn to ash
between us, floating down,
a grey snow out of season
and pray the pavers know
they have been dedicated.
42
Cauldron Anthology