Lucinta slams fist against her breast Cerberus three-headed dog howls In unison screams, either side of dream “Take his body from this place!” Christians march sewers of Rome Mauritanian archer recognizes his face
Sebastian’s body is resumed And buried at the feet Of Peter and Paul, ground so hallowed Irene and maidens weep Her herbs, tincture not swallowed This time it is for keeps
Diocles murdered twice This Patron Saint of Athletes Piercing arrows, which were undone By Irene’s tender grace, now replaced With blows of clubs by Emperor Of a Rome which begins to waste
He saw it coming, plague of plagues And knew the Christ was Risen He ****** all from Milan to Gaul And Christians were so imprisoned And each convinced another man Of this immaculate and pristine vision
So on it goes unto this day Athletes wear insignia on silver medal And delivery to us a new plague While good veiled Italian women do peddle The famous artists nouvelle vague Will this martyrdom ever not settle?
Sebastian as Sadomasochist Will you hear devotee’s prayer? Or must I continue to pierce myself With points from here to there? End thine madness thyself And show this world your care
Written some years back, this one holds a lot of personal meaning. I wanted to post it today, as it is the Feast Day of Saint Sebastian. There are many tales of his martyrdom, this includes my own stigmata.