rounding the temple,
walking its plinth,
reading each carving
like solving a labyrinth

battles and bulls
and decrepit hulls
of ships washed ashore
demons and ogres
who’d fought foreign wars

the Tartarus deep
and gods upon high
and mythical beasts
in water and sky

there’s no way this world
could be real or true
a vacuum of cruelty
a fanciful zoo

real enough to be carved in stone
constructs of mind, known but unknown