Publication 698
By Arcadian on
Saturday, January 1, 2005
at
12:28
Location:
Australia
Registered:
Friday, July 30, 2004
Posts:
63
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Cleopatra
Dim light in the chamber and
Down-draughts tease, play
with the flames of wall fastened torches.
Nearby your servants are seated
at your side with an alabaster canister.
Arms are crossed over your bosom
with emblems of your office;
in gold and lapus lazuli;
your black tresses bound with gold leaf bands
You wait and deliberate.
As if you would ever leave Alexandria;
the august celestial palaces in the wide
streets of the canopic way.
And to never ever see Pharos again;
the light house that sends a beacon at dusk
to men that thirst and seek knowledge in your library
Your indomitable spirit will stay here forever.
The Romans never quite figured you out,
daughter of Isis; Queen of Kings,
Nor your sophisticated court maneuverings;
and seductions with intellect to match
At this very hour, defiance flows through your veins
You are, after all a descendant of Ptomely:
General of Alexandros that never knew defeat.
These Romans; barbarians as you would call them,
never understood the Hellenic mind
nor Thanatos; the sweet death that you are
now ready to embrace with a smile.
God has reclaimed Mark Anthony, your lover.
Octavius's soldiers start to pound the heavy bolted doors.
A Queen of the East will not be taken prisoner to be
paraded like some caged exotic animal in Rome:
to be laughed at, ridiculed like some passing idle curiosity.
Not thinking twice, the canister lid is removed.
Asps and adders coil around delicate wrists;
then you remember the pharaohs and see the gateway to Sirius;
the stellar ascension that your victors could not follow
In death a victory Cleopatra - your spirit will resonate
through the ages and no poet, artist, scholar
will ever capture and tame you in their work.
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Cleopatra
