Best Mesopotamia Poems
Magnetic attraction, enchanting dream of a lifetime -
majestic pyramid attracts my eye,
mystique draws me in
O, your architecture! Pavilions, colonnades; art enclosing art,
every square inch deliberately designed,
ceilings pour forth scintillating splendor
Antiquities from Rome, Egypt, the Orient:
trying to wrap my head around art
created in Mesopotamia 6,000 years ago
Dazed and captivated in your Greek sculpture hall:
Bronze beauty, marble magnificence,
Venus de Milo seduces still
What history you have archived on your walls and pedestals!
Charlemagne holding his scepter,
Louis XIV in regal resplendence
Oil on canvas communicates genuine genius
Rembrandt, Rubens, Raphael,
Vermeer, Van Dyck, Vigée-Lebrun
Mythology awakened to life in marble:
Hera, Hermaphrodite, Neptune, Nymph,
Psyche and Cupid
Even commoners respectfully regarded:
Messina's military man, Brueghel's beggars,
Michelangelo's dying slave
Centuries of religious faith expressed with grace and grandeur:
Moses in the bulrushes, Islamic ivory,
the penitent Magdalene, Virgin and child
Artistic vision reflects and redirects history:
Renaissance masters forecasting the future,
Monet's Impressionism a daring new style
Fifteen minutes till closing, where have the hours flown?
What of tapestries, textiles, drawings, decorative arts?
Alas, another day.
Highlight of the day, world's most famous painting:
mysterious Mona Lisa smile
thanks me for coming to visit
Louvre:
timeless testimony to artistic aesthetic
cathedral of contemplation
history of humanity
Written 15 Sep 2020
Across the valley
Stood the mountain I believed to be id
Two levels and a summit
Made it appear layered
Like first-dynasty pyramids
It would be a long climb
Step, stumble, slip,
Clutch and elevate my entire being
The valley’s simple green plants
Lived in symbiotic coexistence
With bees and ants
Nature nurturing nature
An embryonic journey
Between the Tigres and Euphrates
Such splendor might have caused me to remain
Many do
But I walked on
At the base of the mountain I paused
The summit hidden by a cloud ring
I looked back upon my Mesopotamia
Hailing its verdant simplicity
Questioning the summit’s worth
But uncontrollable curiosity
And unquenchable desire
Edged me forward
I climbed onto rocky soil
I stumbled as stones slipped ‘neath my feet
Reaching out to clutch a bush
I pulled upward
The first plateau ran before me as a brook
I peered into the pool of life
Finding amphibians, reptiles, fish
I waded
Ankles rubbing green algae
Creating eerie sensitivity
Slippery touch
The water cooled me
Thinning air brought calm
A sandy bottom soothed me
Such harmony might have
Caused me to remain
Many do
But above me
Within a mystical Saturnic cloud
Secrets of the summit beckoned
Edging me to elevate
Sweaty palms grasped a wild rose’s stem
Sharp thorns drew blood
My body fatigued, I cursed the climb
What marvels lay above the ring
The second plateau’s diversity thrilled me
Simple moss, brown rabbits
Deer with long, willowy legs
Hundreds of life forms
Gave me entrance
To Thoreau’s untouched paradise
The alluring cloud hung low above me
I questioned my destination
The second plateau’s oasis might have
Caused me to remain
Many do
But irresistible desire
Again edged me to step, stumble
Slip, clutch and elevate
I entered the cloud layer
Feeling hot and cold dancing vapor
The mountain I believed to be id
Swam under my feet
Perplexed, I muddled upward
Above the timber line
No trees, no grass
No plants, no animals
No life
Still I was curious for id
And took the final step
A cold granite peak
Amidst the grey moisture
Self-realization was achieved
I had seen all that was beautiful
But passed it by
The key to paradise was offered
Three times
Yet I had been a martyr to my own desire
I could not see
The valley, brook,
Or paradise of total life
I could see
Only myself
And I cried
For want of something beautiful
I thought poetry is
-name of Mesopotamia which was the first civilization to emerge in human history
-ancient cave peoples surviving life struggle
I thought poetry is
-an immortal love story of Yousuf- Zulekha, Shirin-Farhad, Laila-Majnu or Romeo-Juliet
-a telephonic or open love conversation of smiling postmodern girls
-drying wet colorful clothes of beloved in the courtyard of the house
-haring of beloved with tuberose garland before a mirror
I thought poetry is
-lizards chirping from the deserted house; cockroach flying
-quarrelsome cats in the black dark or barking dogs
-the struggle of mosquito for human blood
-traveling of the arrogant indecent animals all over the night
I thought poetry is
-thrilling venturous ghostly stories of J. K. Rowling
-self-expression of known-unknown writers
-unspoken tale of a war-wounded soldier
-the regret of the thousands of dead soldiers
-the unwritten fantasy of an isolated poet
-the lonely guitar or ektara of dead singers
I thought poetry is
-without reel tie an independent flying of a kite in the sky
-in the blue sky sovereign flapping of birds
-movement of invisible winds everywhere
-hearing story of fairytale crossing of green forest
I thought poetry is
-handmade airing of newly married girl to a new groom in lunch time
-dyed hands of nubile girls by mehndi,
-captivating sounds of jingling anklet and kamarband of dancing damsels
I thought poetry is
-classic music of Pandit Ravi Shankar
-immortal tune of Ustad Bismillah Khan's shehnai
-compilation of humanitarian lyrics of the legend Bob Marley
-heart touching reciting of the Holy Quran of Qari Abdul Basit
I thought poetry is
-unforgettable philosophical discussion of Socrates with his disciples
-the philosophic lineage of learning such as Socrates-Plato-Aristotle
-immortal scientific creations of Newton, Galileo, Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Hawking
I thought poetry is
-unremitting prayer or worship of any prevailed religion devotee to get heaven
-inhuman history of bombing on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki or brutality of 1st or 2nd World War
These all are just my thinking,
my thinking is free
on my path
but poetry is poetry,
more than any thinking, many more;
on its path
Poetry is independent fully
-June 27, 2019 Chattogram
The cacophony of birds
sounded like
the babble of Babylon
no terror
better describes
the faces of Babel
than Edvard Munch's
The Scream.
Your left eye is Tigris,your right is Euphoria,your nose is mesopotamia.
Pharaoh Tutankhamun graced the Egyptian throne,
A *****, brisk and spry.
From his majestical hands, dangled a scepter
And on his handsome head, sat a crown.
His empire was at its peak
For he wielded influence all over africa.
The bearded Europeans and nubianS sought his protection
For egypt, was a haven.
So organised was the land:
Amun-re and maat protected the people,
The country grew with the help of viziers.
Agriculture was a noble profession in the land,
As her economic markets were the best in the world
Egypt gave light to Greece and Mesopotamia
For her civilisation altered many a life.
And also, was the birth place of man
Such, was the land of egypt
The middle ages stroke and Europe went to sleep
But mama africa gave birth to many strong children:
Ghana, Mali, Songhai and many more
These children shoke the world with their riches and organisation.
Such was the history that africa recorded before they came.
Fredriech Hegel in want of speech said:
"Africa never had a history before the whites came."
Such a mediocre declaration from an illiterate
For in place of his brain, graced a kidney.
Africa was well civilised before the bearded people came:
We had a religion
We had education as seen in egypt
We had a well organised system in all aspects.
We had everything needed for prosperity,
We attracted them with our gold, thus they came.
But most of all, we believed in equality.
Such was africa before they came/
But when the bearded people came,
They altered our ways and put us in stocks
Then said: "we had no history."
Oblivious that africa had made history,
BEFORE
AND BEFORE
THEY CAME.
It never takes me
More than a wink of an eye
To travel from the Levant people
To the people of Minoa
Via yellow river, Norte Chico
Egypt, Harappa and Mesopotamia
I’d seen enough falls and rises
Like the ocean’s weaves
Embedded with few moment’s high tides
And receding low ebbs
While living in houses of Uruk and Memphis
I encountered with enough love and hate
To satisfy their basic instincts
Some went too low, some were too great
To preserve human development and progress.
In the course of my travelling
Through the great river Nile
Among the valleys of Euphrates and Tigris
I’d seen wonderful minds
In heaps of war, conspiracy, deception and lies
With multiple injuries
When I laid in the trenches of lust and greed
In the battle fields of Polynesia
I’d seen the indomitable human spirit
How it withheld the cruelties of Athenians and Spartans
And pushed forward the great human civilization
………………to be continued ……..
The Tigris and Euphrates,
they flow like time,
murmuring and sighing
and running their individual courses,
cradling Mesopotamia,
their land,
in life,
and flooding the plain in alluvial soil,
for cities to put down deep roots,
the wonder of humanity.
Victims In Victory Seen Through Their Eyes
The two were brothers unlikely ones so they had been told by their
Heteronormative leaders marching in confidence to monochromatic
Repetitive bugles of one-sidedness’ strides one-sightedness’ quest
Occidental Oriental obedience to some Major some God or other led
Usurpers to an unusual display of sameness at the end when they left
Geopolitical pawns both Barrett (The Quarrelsome)and Youssuf
Heeding Allah (Piety Power and Influence) stood firm until the end
The scene of their parties was Mesopotamia just north of Bagdhad
His Majesty The King and the Ottoman Sultan had come to agree to
Enter the resting of weapons ceasefire and armistice had been set
In his mind Youssuf prayed to Allah and Barrett reached for a brandy and smoke
Reprieve and behold they would return in one piece from the trenches
Ending the battle they finally exchanged compliments and Barrett and
Youssuf each had a bayonet stuck through one of their eyes minutes before
Evening rested that one day of too many long days 1918 in October
Sharqat and the battle thereof was over and the men were the lucky ones
08th October 2016 and the battle has resumed Through Many Different Eyes
*Image of The Politics of Abortion by NYT.
AUDIO: from the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? "Go To Sleep Little Baby"
Soma Sonnet: Abortion Trilogy
It is the right of every woman, or,
Is it the right of every woman, so,
Some folks fighting for life inside the core,
Others say the fight is more blow by blow.
~~go to sleep little maybe
The written trek crossed Egypt and the world,
Rome, Greece, Mesopotamia, and more,
Rice patties and bamboo trails that were pearled,
Procedures taught, too numerous the score.
~~go to sleep little maybe
Twas dark times, inbreeding made more childless,
crib death, world plagues, poverty, starved, and this,
matters of convenience act the mindless,
three tales, will we exist, it's hit or miss,
~~go to sleep little maybe
sad, mad, tis all topsy turvey they'd be,
Mom gots' to go, to sleep little maybe
2022 August 17
Who am I?
I am a lion who comes out as a goat
I am an ocean with waves big enough to drown
I am a child of Mesopotamia
A descendant of Shaka Zulu
Baptized in the Nile
I depict the sword of Mansa Musa
I am the backbone of civilization
An icon of emancipation
I represent the pyramid of Giza
And the lighthouse of Alexandria
A symbol of hope
And an emblem of freedom
I am a depiction of Chinua Achebe ink
An illustration of the hieroglyphic
I am the carapace of Hannibal
And the shield of Tunka Manin
I am a player of the djembe
And the author of Sundiata Epic
I am an inheritor of Timbuktu
A citizen of Kumbi-Saleh
A compadre to Askia Muhammed
And a son of Mansa Musa
A follower of Kwame Nkrumah
And a kinsman of Ahmet Sekou Toure
I am the native son of Gao
A fisherman of Lake Victoria
A Tuareg from the Sahara
I hailed from the cradle of life
I am the black in Panther
And this is really who I am, A black man.
Intergalactic travel reveals some kinks.
Man visited mars and left a sphinx.
Cydonia and Mesopotamia saw new futures borne.
The “Tower of Babel” and ancient technology…men mourn.
Was man’s “spirit world” formerly preserved on Mars?
Did “sons of God” once travel among the stars?
Egyptians learned to build sphinxes to provide for souls.
Their tradition, also, distantly reverenced afterlife’s goals.
The Tower of Babel…great technology…lost.
Travel through the heavens was stopped at great cost.
Many marvels, modern man cannot explain.
A sphinx on a distant planet, mysteries remain.
© Dane Smith-Johnsen
September 15, 2010
I suppose the inventor of the wheel will ever remain a mystery,
A nameless face lost forever in the abyss of ancient history.
Was it a man or woman? This we will never know.
No matter who it was I'd like to postulate my theory though!
Woman from the time of Eve was, it seems, dealt a losing hand,
Facing misery under mans' thumb, acquiescing to his every demand.
Man had his sport hunting with rock, club, arrow and bow,
Piling mastodon meat and other game upon her back bent low!
One day she mused, "Ugh! I've had enough of this silly guff!"
So a woman it was who invented the wheel to carry all that stuff!
This novel idea made life easier for everyone concerned.
Man mused, "I need to find other things to pester her, by durned!"
The oldest known wheel it seems was made in Mesopotamia,
And I reckon among the citizenry caused sensational mania!
Everyone just had to have their own set of "wheels", as it were.
The sale of this unique commodity outsold frankincense and myrrh!
Now many macho guys will claim that I have betrayed their gender,
By suggesting that woman was the inventor and that to them I pander.
But we are grateful to the originator, whether it be a him or her,
As we whizz along the highway on our radials at seventy miles per!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(© All Rights Reserved)
Tigris, Idigna, Idiqual,
watering parched desert lands
of Mesopotamia.
Swift it flows on the East
toward the sea, from
the once fertile Garden of Eden.
Arterial blood of arid lands,
of transportation,
of trade and commerce.
In spring, mountain snowmelt
tumbles and rushes downward,
flooding alluvial plains for farming,
sharing its life-giving waters
from time immemorial to villages,
towns, and great cities.
Along the memory lane,
Walking, Neolithic Mesopotamians!
A potter pioneering the first wheel stone,
The wooden wheels under the chariots rolling down!
The Wheel rolling up and down endorsing circle of life!
Accelerating the pace time to time!
The invention of wheel,
An innovation of mobility,
Like the planets,
Computer disk on desk,
The plastic wheel of IT era,
A solar symbol rotating technology!
Wheel,
The wisdom of all time in the direction of civilization,
Simply from minds of Neolithic men,
Wheel,a vehicle,
Travelled from the forgotten Mesopotamia-
A village deemed of Globe,
To the unseen Global village,
An adventure to reach any time,any where!
Wheel,
Took the burden of feet to it's shoulders,
If not wheels,
Wings,the answer is the question!
Where?
Digging the layers of layers of wounded Mesopotamian soil,
Tracing the resting soul,
The pioneering potter,
To offer his long pending royalty!