affection

A ritual parade in splendid fancy dress,

impressive pomp and ceremony, set the stage

for the raging, infuriated, bombastic arrival

of the noble bull, charging to its sacrifice.

At a price of the sudden flutter of a sick heart,

as if parting my lids to peer from the shrinking brink

of a sheer abyss, envisaging the horror of a speared

gut, I wallow in a pit of fluid intestines.

A festive fanfare of hoarse voice from a seething

sea of exhilarated fans reaches crescendo,

in a frenzy of waved hankies and flung hats -

sung like a paean to undisputed valour.

And all I know (once I've regained my breath)

is I'm alive, but I have witnessed death.