Up ahead lies the crossing place
Dusty and lonely
Given over to things that crawl and slither
Rattlers and copperheads, scorpions and centipedes
Hecate’s children
Counting off by two

Crossroads dust masks broken
People kneeling at
The intersection of roads
Making promises they won’t
Want to keep to a goddess
Older than they know

Hecate hovers—there
On the stop sign
Lounging on the traffic signal
Go
Stop
Slow down—the most important
Consider what you can afford to pay

She won’t linger
So many crossroads supplicants
Only one goddess
Snakes dance goodbye
A bobcat stands frozen like a rabbit
By the dark abyss of her eyes

Crone
Witch
Wise One
Dealmaker
She is all and none of these
She flies on, crows and owls at her side
Ancient enemies except
When they attend their mistress
At the crossroads
Real and imagined

[Gerri Leen lives in Northern Virginia and originally hails from Seattle.  She has stories and poems published or accepted in: Escape Pod, Grimdark, Spellbound, Sword and Sorceress XXIII, Spinetinglers, She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror and others.  She is editing an anthology, A Quiet Shelter There, which will benefit homeless animals and is due out in 2015 from Hadley Rille Books.  See more at http://www.gerrileen.com.]