Judgement
Hiding
in Nile-green dark, your heart
fuses
tight as crocodile jaws
on
midnight meat.
When
you bring it to be weighed
against
Maat's feather
beneath
the clear jackal eyes of Anubis,
it
will show them this red-river night
when
your whole being bit through me.
The
scales will tip.
You'll
see the last thing then.
~February,
2013
55 hieroglyphs for the g-man
Process notes: wikipedia caption for above illustration:
"This detail scene, from the Papyrus of Hunefer (ca. 1275 B.C.), shows the scribe Hunefer's heart being weighed on the scale of Maat against the feather of truth, by the jackal-headed Anubis. The Ibis-headed Thoth, scribe of the gods, records the result. If his heart is lighter than the feather, Hunefer is allowed to pass into the afterlife. If not, he is eaten by the waiting chimeric devouring creature Ammit composed of the deadly crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus. Vignettes such as these were a common illustration in Egyptian books of the dead."
Image: The Weighing Of The Heart,
By National Geographic, Ancient Egyptians (Book of the Dead)
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
I know a chick that looks just like Anubis!
ReplyDeleteI love Hieroglphics thats what they taught us when I was in school!
Loved your Middle Kingdom 55 Joy.
You are the Queen of the Nile!
Thanks for playing, and tossing me some midnight Meat...Hehehehe
Have a Kick Ass Week-End
JENGA!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes, I've been called the Queen of Denial before. Have an excellent Valentine's, G, and the usual kicking of the ass all weekend long.
DeleteI love the way you phrase things (your last line) and the way you dress up the personal in a thick robe of myth and legend, until it lands somewhere mid-way between Fucking Gorgeous and Heart Scaldingly True.
ReplyDeletethe ostrich feather of truth...interesting..i had to look that up btw...smiles...yikes on the bite though...hoping i weigh out...smiles..
ReplyDeleteIt's in the process notes--not the ostrich part. The Egyptians believed that the heart was the seat of thought, will and identity, more than the way we think of it, but in the poem, it works either way.
Deletestill hanging in the air, your final line almost played in audio out of my computer. I enjoyed the poem in its entirety. colors bright - eyes and jaws making clear impressions. this gives "guilty" a whole new meaning. wonderful work.
ReplyDeleteDamn, I love that last line!
ReplyDeleteA creepy factor, but handled with your usual grace and wisdom, hedgewitch. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYikes. He should have taken just a nip! This works past the estoerica - which is fine- I don't mean to call it that but can't think of the right word -- the specific references. The meaning is clear despite the trappings which actually lend an age-old aspect to it, as well as provide a certain sound value and a useful coloration for purposes of the 55 abbreviation--the issues of karma, kindness, bitterness, revenge -- the green-eyed monster even of Iago all come to the fore. It's an interesting idea to talk of a heart fusing, as if the lobes have gotten stuck - I am free-associating now (and I've been to a party) but I can't help thinking of the entrail jar.
ReplyDeleteWhat works so well, for me, is the contrast of the Nile-green and the red-river night. Ooh. How did one go from Nile-green through red-river--through the bite. This is so subtle, but there it is. (For me.) Dust, blood, desert (and a tinge of just deserts too.) Re(d)tribution. k.
Enjoyed that. great interpretation.
ReplyDelete"when your whole being bit through me." Love that. Love, too, that I learned something from this 55. In my world, this was a fitting Valentine, hedge! ♥
ReplyDeleteI had recurring dreams for a number of years now ... it shows a book with hieroglyphs ... I try to read, but am not able to ... ever ... and the glass boat ... I'm sitting in a boat with a glass bottom while trying to read the mysterious letters in that book ... I can feel my eyes straining painfully in my dreams ... any suggestions of what all this might be about?
ReplyDeleteOooh! Payback Anubis style! I love it.
ReplyDeleteLove hieroglyphics and your interpretation here. Especially love the first three lines, the midnight meat.
ReplyDeleteLike the Clarke quote too. A pleasure to visit you.
Red river night! good job ! really love the image-
ReplyDeleteI love this one! The midnight meat~awesome!
ReplyDeleteI like this. It's filled with so many images. And as a fringe benefit, I think I learned something.
ReplyDelete