Scythian Gold

...molded the holy predator Death,
revered, carried on horseback
across the plains.

Life, the golden prey, a stag
with many-branched
antlers, the diverse pathways,
reaching up from the beautiful earth.

Death, as black feathers fall
as talons grasp, that is eternity.
Those nomads crisscrossed
the blooming ground. They knew
where the sweet waters flow.