Full Circle

Now my charms are all o’erthrown. . .
In this bare island. . .

Hearts are aching with longing
Behind a curtain of mist designed to smother our song
Hiding our valleys and hills
Where we once danced in joy around the May Pole
Hiding flower petals dusted with angels breath
The fires lighting our circles smoke and ashes
The fire in my breast smoke and ashes

Now ‘tis true
I must be here confined by you. . .

The shadows of your presence
Lurks behind our backs
Entwined with our own
My throat is captured
And I am helpless
Helpless here as you

Take our Goddess
Rip Her in two

Take our Star
Give it to their devil

Take our Saviour
Give Him to a Virgin

Take our lives
Make of them all one

Take our moons
Give it to their wolves

Take the earth and all its wonder
And trap it in a ring of fire

Taking everything away
Smirking fingers weaving us
Into your words
Never telling whose is whose
Never telling what is true

Revelation was tied to a stake
Our fire used against us
Forced to swallow the truth
Again and again
You will forever be a deaf ear
Still believing
That everything is what it seems

As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free.

But this was not to be. . .

My ending is despair. . .

But this was not to be. . .

Like a phoenix, out of the ashes
My flame will rise and burn again
To fulfill my purpose, our need-

For the strength of one that knows the truth
Can break a thousand of your chains.

-This was originally written as a counter-poem to several poems that viciously attacked Wicca and its practicioners, and presented false statements as facts. I wrote this to counteract that and defend what truly happened to the early pagans at the hands of the first Christians.
I am not playing "this religion is better than your religion." Whether one wants to believe it or not, the early Christians did subdue the pagans and used much of the pagan belief system as a basis for their own, while still demonizing and distorting the original source of much of their doctrine.
I have nothing against Christians, only those fundamentalists that cannot or refuse to see what we know to be truth. Acceptance and the willingness to share and spread the knowledge of this truth will hopefully bring much-deserved respect to Wicca, its followers, and the history of the pagans.
The lines in italics are taken from Prespero's speech in Shakespeare's The Tempest.
This is dedicated to all those who have been persecuted for their beliefs, whether it be Wicca or someone else. This is for you.