The Witches of Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle,
foreboding on its mountain top.
From atop the towering walls,
witches by the hundreds
were cast into the moat.
If they drowned,
that proved their innocence.
If they floated,
they were witches,
taken from the water
to be bound to the stake and burned.

Brusque action against Satan’s minions
is always justified.
The Bible says,
“Thou shalt not suffer
a witch to live.”

For vicar and cardinal,
King and Lord Mayor
such justice was lovely in its symmetry;
whether drowned in the moat
or burned by the fire,
there was one less uppity woman.

John R. Guthrie