A Toast
We drank together, brothers.
There were twelve of us at the long table
Twelve plus the Only One.
Eleven, plus one who will betray.
Will one be a betrayer, brothers?
In desperation
He will hide in the caves
And he will tear himself apart with pain
If pain is a torture without human name
Nor known depths.
On its own it will punish him in the worst way.
Let us drink, brothers.
Now there are millions and millions of us.
We have all betrayed the Only One
But no-one suffers any more from the betrayal
None of us despairs
None of us cries
None of us laments.
Let’s drink a toast, hateful brothers
Locked together in the mud
Of a different known depth.