The Rite

See a solemn and venerable ritual come to life in florid language.

From out the womb the babe did crawl


His cherubic face drenched in a caul


Limbs a-flail with life's hot zest


A flush of crimson across his chest


His rod of flesh bore a generous span


Yet was thick with the sin of fallen man


So they summoned the wizened elder that night


With the tools and knowledge to perform the Rite


The flesh, though ample and virile, did yield


To the kiss of a blade from which no wound had healed


The mother sighed and suppressed a shiver


For the babe's sinful hood would no longer quiver