drinking the Kool Aid
after months of being careful
the boys froze
as I took water from the priest’s bowl
and brought it to my lips
I nodded to them
it’s okay
they hesitated
then did the same
why? they asked later
it’s Besakih, the Mother Temple
the blessing’s worth the risk
today floating in the bottle green depths
of the pelucid Pelorus
that once held dwarves afloat
they asked me
can we drink it?
here we were
in a space sacred to them
I hesitated then nodded
just a little I said
and we all took a bit of magical river
into our very selves
