In the beginning was Chaos,
and Gaia rose,
orderly safe ground,
gave birth to Uranus,
leading to abundant,
fractious offspring,

the Olympic bunch,
leaving the chthonic realm,
an up and down of wombs
and tombs for a lofty place,
could not keep their parts,
less their heads

out of their butts:
Infamy, jealousy, fury,
ruling the sky, the earth, the sea.
How could humanity rise
above even the gods?
‘Dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return’

throws us back into
the cave, where Hecate
awaits us, nursing the baby beasts,
who will keep searching
for wombs and breasts,

her torches give not enough light
to lift either gods or mortals to divine,
at our crossroads, straddling
the impossible between
birth
death
life.

[Morgue McMillan is the pen name and web name of Marieluise Niehus, a native German, writing in English and living in the UK. Her poetry has been described as passionate, precise, and coloured by her rich involvement in spiritual, political, and humanist matters and causes.]