Cernunnos’ Death

Cernunnos as depicted on the Pillar of the Boatmen, circa first century, CE

My torc is chilled by snow
nestled in the dirt, the rot, a home for worms.
Steam in my nostrils carries
the stench of sulfur.
Noon sunlight burns my ashy shoulders.

Creeping ice takes my nails;
burning wings spread across my chest.
Horns shatter, fall from my head;
my voice: earth’s quakes, a gift from Mother.

My veins sing like horsehairs;
my arteries send rain from heaven.
My tears: mercury; my spit: wine.
When I clutch soil, even dying,
it spews fruit.

A son I spurned came to kill me. He carves me up
with a farmer’s scythe, and a device
that divides the Sun.
Now my innermost skull is Sky’s dome;
I pray with star tongues.