Metaphor and simile have been with the human race for thousands of years. This is my English translation of an excerpt from an ancient Egyptian poem estimated to be around 4,000 years old:
Excerpt from "Dialogue of a Misanthrope with his Soul"
(ancient Egyptian poem circa 2000 BC)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Death lies before me:
like a sick man’s recovery,
like entering a garden after an interminable illness.
Death lies before me:
like the fragrance of myrrh,
like sitting beneath a billowing sail with a favorable wind.
Death lies before me:
like swimming in the course of a stream,
like a man’s return from the slave-galley to freedom.
Death lies before me:
like the sky when it clears,
like a man's longing to see his home after countless years of captivity.
Keywords/Tags: Egyptian, translation, dialogue, dialog, misanthrope, soul, death, illness, sick, sickness, recovery from, myrrh, sail, wind, freedom, sky, captivity, slave, slavery, soulmate
The crocodile smile is such a pretty sight
as the Egyptian Plover keeps his teeth
pearly white and shiny bright
"Open wide," are words heard from the bird
his dental hygienist who picks and pecks
then eats the meaty spicks and specks
and as the crocodile sheds old choppers
(no tears)
so the avian's not unemployed or at a loss
the croc constantly grows new gnashers
for his new-found feathered friend to floss
He is my angel,
He is also my pharaoh,
He is my dear god,
He is also my daddy
Pounding me so divinely.
There are two lovers who find out they can be together.
They live together forever, and holding each other.
In Egyptian cotton and feathered bed, one doing the other.
She sits, patiently,
And waits
Alone.
It seems so long
Since she held him close,
And now, he is so far away.
The telephone rings.
She jumps up.
Her heart begins to thump.
News of him? Yes.
Yet another delay.
But he will be back
One day soon.
Until then,
She must lie awake, alone
With memories of happy days gone by;
Dreams of those yet to come.
Yes. Someday soon
He will come back.
Egyptian musk is an oil
From the ancient days
It's alluring smell
Seems to entice the person
Who smells it, even though
Most people wear it well
Each have a different aroma
I claim my Egyptian heritage of
Love, rivers, healing
Geese fly high above our pyramids
Those rocks moved with magnetic
music
Light cascading through space
Thoth dances above our crowns
I sway beneath Amun-Ra
She-He caresses my auburn hair
a deepening of irises
it was my thunder and
my own blistering hands
Nile flows freely watching
Now my goddesses sit in their Merkaba’s
chanting around an eternal flame
carrying melodies of change
violined voices on violet strings
A million workers marched barefoot
through fields or furnaces
aligning cores below to above
Sirius clapped assent
urging me out into Space
Pyramid ! Triangle of my refuge
and direction
While above signs
watched my movement
up the Squinx
to a northern node
Bronzed arms encircle my hips
as Africa unites with Asia
I did not know that
in a Southern land I
would disembark to
crack hearts of steel
with spirals of crystalline carbon
a moment at Last Supper
I relived this teaching
Myrrh rained down to
anoint
My Heart was His-
Hers !
The ankh symbol—sometimes referred to as the key of life or the key of the nile—is representative of eternal life in Ancient Egypt. Created by Africans long ago, the ankh is said to be the first--or original--cross.
This use of the ankh as a symbol of Christ's promise of everlasting life through belief in his sacrifice and resurrection is most probably the origin of the Christian use of the cross as a symbol of faith today.
What is the power of the ankh?
It was especially commonly held in the hands of ancient Egyptian deities, or being given by them to the pharaoh, to represent their power to sustain life and to revive human souls in the afterlife.
The Ankh as the Symbol of Clairvoyance
Placed between the eyes of an initiate, the ankh means that the initiate now has the power of clairvoyance and can see “the world beyond”.
Therefore, it is also considered as the lock on his mind to make him aware of his duty to keep secret these superior powers and the knowledge of the mystery he now has.
Bastet Goddess of protection, health and pleasure, oh, queen.
Goddess of the Rising Sun, you are every day seen
Riding through the sky with Ra, protecting him.
From the serpent Apep, your light is not dim.
Thanks to you cats are demi-deities in Egypt even today.
Revered for their magic, and they keep the rodents away!
Thought to be you in physical form, they are revered.
Lady of the East, by serpents, you are still totally feared.
Bastet, as during the second dynasty, your legacy is safe today.
We think of you as these marvelous cats shoo the vermin away.
At night we know you remain here, keeping safe your father Ra.
In the form of a cat, and we worship you; we are in awe.
Other Egyptian dancers love her
for the beauty of their Land
Some spoke some wept
others ate deceased flowers
within brilliant hearts
and how i feel love
knowing this world of pain
and suffering and love and
passion breathes my skin;
exquisite
but necessarily so
-- For the Handmaiden of Love
and her Song foretold it.
:: 12.21.2021 ::
Cleopatra's take-away
At the top of our street
Is quite obviously a failing be enterprise
Which it sadly pains me to say
Because there never ever seems to
be anybody inside apart from the
actual owner himself
And it looks like he has ploughed everything
in life he has into it including his heart and soul
And it's certainly not down to his lack of
enthusiasm , dedication want or willing
to do anything in his power to make it work
Rather than see his dream in ruined in
tatters and taken away
Through no fault of his own but fall victim
to one of life's cruel circumstance and irony
Sometimes you do not get out what
you put in or get your just desert's
And the roller shutter's permanently come
down with a sign in the middle simply saying
Closed
Open no longer for business
Bank , Hope & Dream foreclosure
Wrong Time - Wrong Place
**********************
Isn't life hard to get through enough
feling sorry for one's own woes
As well as then having to see and feel
sorry for other poor souls as well
Tonight I’ll light a candle by my bedside,
A simple way of banishing the gloom,
And lie awake anticipating midnight
When she will seek admission to my room.
And when my servant tells of her arrival,
I’ll have him guard the threshold with his sword,
Then watch those seven wonders come unraveled,
As each dropped veil surrenders its reward.
We’ll find the dance that brings the greatest pleasure,
Our naked bodies suitably aligned.
We’ll lie on sheets of fine Egyptian cotton,
Our arms and legs and spirits intertwined.
Unification, rebirth, pure and clean
Egyptian blue lotus parades her truth
blooming every morning
assuring us of the cycle of life
She closes up in the afternoon
Can we all turn into a lotus after death?
Or is this honor reserved for pharaohs?
She bewitches us, this blue rose of Egypt
An icon between the Nile banks,
She is a powerful hallucination in our meditations
She bewitches and delights us
Showing us we can be reborn the day after our earth death
Unification, rebirth, pure and clean
Egyptian blue lotus gives us hope
Allows our imaginations to soar
A desert flower with attitude
She walks
She stalks the pyramid
With shell fish underfoot
Drawing lime into her creases
And all because
She given can
To step to climb
In single numbers
Until the penny drops
And everything and nothing stops
Paving way for yesterday
To start under the sphinx gaze
Begotten by the setting nile
Masked in solid sunshine gold
Screaming afterlife i am dedicated
mummy salt
Awaiting Orions call to intern
To sisterhood multiple of three
Adjacent little and offset
Built upon a desert burn
Your secret kept
With little clues to follow
Yet still we do
As star's are you and so are we
Purveyor of the celestial math
equation
A single number forging path
in all but name
Until we cross the great divide
And dust and star's we return and
then become
For the remainder of eternity
Dog sits staring at Bastet
She is regal
Her gold collar majestic
We are both mesmerized subjects
Her minions – the dog and I
Her silent subtle commands
Are quickly answered
We bring her nip and her drink
We have both sensed the deep wrath
That is the undercurrent of this Egyptian cat
More powerful than a sand storm
More royal than any pharaoh ancient or otherwise
Baste sits, plotting our demise, designing our tombs.
The dog and I shudder.
Related Poems