Egypt: Where The World Once Began

Flight of Time

Soaring like a god on wings Isis-blessed

In search of beginnings - a mystical quest

O'er newly wed mountains and islands estranged

'Cross deserts of water - my Horus-eye ranged

In a flash I catch sight of her delta arms wide

She bids me fair welcome, this patchwork clad bride

With gold sand swept hair and brown sun baked tan

I am meeting my maker - where the world once began

Cacophony of Cairo

The City Victorious bustles and teems

With the chaos of life near bursting its seams

Hooter blasts mingle with chant-calls to pray -

A whirling sound dervish that's danced every day

The dead and the living find shelter in tombs

The skyline is punctured with crosses and moons

While the tranquil Nile whispers of history unfurled -

The lotus bud blooming of the civilized world

Era of Gold

The speaking stones echo down canyons of time …

The vulture and cobra are shown intertwined

Two crowns worn together - the red and the white

As the kingdoms of upper and lower unite

The floodplains turn fertile and peace fills the sky

From the golden creator, the gods multiply

The sun is discovered in Earth's cavern womb

The word crystallizes in temple and tomb

Pyramids of Knowledge

Blocks hewn from stone form steps up to heaven

In praise of the sun - the spirit to leaven

The chambers within are sanctums of peace

Where the body can sleep and the soul find release

Resting content 'neath the great shadows three

The lion of wisdom holds life's precious key

Reflecting the dawn on his time honoured face

Weathered with patience - great guardian of grace

Monuments of Glory

Amidst all the rubble and ruins of old

Legends still linger and stories are told

Of glory and power, of order and law

Of beautiful cities and triumphs of war

The towering pylons conceal a great hall

Where a petrified forest of papyrus stands tall

Obelisks and statues rise regal with pride

Protecting the family of gods safe inside

Valley of Kings

The dusty white mountains and valleys converse

In whispers of secrets hid under the earth

Of tunnels and treasures and sarcophagi

Of caves where the queens and the kings came to die

The tombs tell their stories in rainbow relief

Of ochre and kohl, green, blue and gold leaf

The walls speak of journeys from this world to nether

Of Judgement that weighs each heart 'gainst a feather

River of Life

Tufted green palm trees cling to the shores

Barely escaping the desert's hot claws

Farmers and fishermen battle the haze

'Neath the envious eyes of the limestone cliffs' gaze

On the blissful blue water drift swans graced in white -

The sails of felukas shine billowing bright

The Nile's ebb and flow are now slaves to the sluice

As the people and river search hard for a truce

Legacy of Ramses II

For three generations he ruled from the throne

Constructing and carving his likeness in stone

From statues colossi, his praise song still rings -

The original Gulliver, a giant among kings

Still awesome the sight, though millennia have passed:

The mountain of worship whose face is unmasked

Where horses and chariots do battle for kings

Beneath the protection of the gods' outstretched wings

Vision of Rebirth

Centuries trickle, as the future is frayed

Kingdoms erode and dynasties fade

The sacred ankh's buried beneath aeons of sand

Its destiny resting in time's patient hands

But the soul winds are changing, a gold sun's on the rise

The snake is uncoiling, the bird again flies

From death, life takes breath, we feel the birth pang

And emerge recreated - from where the world once began

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