Conjurors versus Christians
The caves are sacred everywhere. Their dark
Prepares us for epiphanies, obscure
Pronouncements, and a sibilant remark
Wrapped up in mystery. The caves immure
The unimagined as on painted walls.
The buoyant deer and horses floating there
Will never be dragged down in clawing falls
Though lions are as deathless in embalming air
As victims. Catacombs oppose these scenes
With skulls and gape-wide mandibles, gored eyes
(With pupils gone), and piled up bones. This means
The opposite of mystical surprise
In Altamira and Lascaux. Taboos
Are banished by the caverns’ shaman views.