Abraxas

P Sufenas Virius Lupus

As shepherd of stars, Abraxas herds the
Bright ones, gods and former mortals
Lighting from distances where even light
Appears to be darkness, ineffable, yet
Nearer at hand is the great mover,
Abraxas, than our own heartbeats and thoughts.
Through winds invisible he moves,
Assuming the forms of other deities:
Neptune and Jupiter, Sol and Bacchus,
Aion and Iao of the Lordly Hosts.
Legs of serpents, head of rooster, arms
Brilliantly winged like the gryphon winds;
Artist among deities, shaper and shepherd.

Abraxas knows no “native” or “foreign,” by his numena
Becomes all gods — a provocative barb —
Realizing power, reifying virtue, thereby the fear
Assuaging in they who are in the agora
Xenophobic; divine herder of the ox
Across broad celestial plains, the endless vista
Streaming with the efflorescence of heavens.