Apollo's Gifts by Trina Gaynon

Each of you envisioned the future

Before you were born, spoke it

Into amniotic fluid. The umbilical cord

Carried the word no farther than

The mother. The walls of her uterus

Protected not just you, but the world

Outside from knowledge that would

Bring it to its knees in despair.

Each of you radiated bright rays

Of heat that someday would warm

Or burn everything you cared for.

Fingers reached for what you wanted

To make mine, to exchange

The unbridled power of prophecy

For surrender to carnal desire,

Scorching that which eluded you.

Each of you vibrated with music

As a heart began to beat. In time,

For music stolen from brothers

To that purchased, you will

Pay dearly. Some you will borrow

Until you grow beyond it. Any you

Claim as your own will be vines

Sprawling out of all that came before.