Patricia M. Twining-Obarski
Works

Blood Reckoning

There must be

A reckoning

Vertical Cuts

An offering of blood

Commingling

In gushing waters,

Bog preserved,

Body exhumed,

A Druid prince

Garroted,

Plunged into Dozemary Pool

Beneath wattles of rowan

Entombed

Expiation

A plea to the Gods

For the welfare of the Clan

To end crop failures, strife and want

Was your sacrifice

Willing or compelled?


The iconography

On the Gundrstrup Cauldron

Fallen warriors

Submerged

By the Great Goddess’ hand

A vessel of rebirth

Revived, renewed

To live and fight another day

A remembrance of fluidity

In the mother’s womb

The stirrings

Of collective memory

Primeval amphibians

Learned to walk on land


Our beginnings are in the water

In this time

Of suffering,

This, too, must be with you,

When hope has faded

Courage cowered by strife

Will you sacrifice willingly

In order to be reborn?