Ossuary

[billy]

lots and lots to enjoy. if i try i could tie myself up with this one looking for it reason/reason so i'll just comment as i see it without too much thought. the title ties the poem to Catholicism as do some of the references below. the end couplet for me expresses control.
calvary, thorns, virgin. cutting to the quick. we've been bent and broken in order to fit into what ever box religion wishes to squeeze us into, when i say religion i include government schools and all other means of do it it just so or else.

It is the bones.
 
It is the rattle and crack of what remains
as the caws of the corvids scrape across tar,
crying for flesh; feeding their young. for some reason this opening reminds me of poe's raven; [not it's opening mind]. corvids is a great choice and works a treat with the other K sound, the other assonance in this stanza also works well.
 
The young remain
forced into the thousand crosses
of Calvary; bound as the countless
virgins frozen under the hands
that will raise them to whore.   i see the children take the yoke, forced to do; forced into boxes, which works well with the title.
 
Our nests are thorns dipped in gold.
Old temples crush the new
and call it charity.  Images line the walls
of the grave.
 
Miracles run black over
withered palms; the sheep eat the shepherds
and are reborn in the mud.  All eyes turn
to mirrors: the images diminish.
 
When you see the blow, you know
it is not for you.  Your hands are pressed
together and your ears are filled
with dirt.  We are not crows, to sift
through filth to thrive.
 
In the end, it is not the bones
but how you break them.