Iphegenia

To seek a favorable future --
according to the Iliad --
the Greeks would find a sheep to butcher --
a maiden if that's all they had --
then read their entrails on the dais,
invoke the gods of war and chaos,
and once assured so, by the priest,
man painted warships headed East.
We have our own Iphigenias.
In seeking to redeem the past,
to make it present, make it last,
and how dare anyone deny us --
we sacrifice them, then set sail,
assured that now, we cannot fail.