(09/17/1942) Dance of the Gargoyle

Dance of the Gargoyle
Elemental-spirit flame-
Splay of snout and horny hoofed.
Deadly as a tiger lame
Bronze of claw and palate roofed,

Black as pigment, night the hue
Of scaly hide, ocher eyes,
Stir the cauldron; churn and strew
Smoke across the boiling skies.

And upon its wivern head
Hideous beyond compare-
Wattled monster of the hood-

Vanity with heavy tread
Stamps a livid imprint there:
“This is beauty, this is good.”

— Grady L. McMurtry
9/17/42 e.v.

Note: Originally published in Thelema Lodge Calendar, April 1992.