Poems

The Key of Life

Civilisation springs from a river:
the brilliant glint of an amulet
permits this story to be told
Who came first – a God or a King?
Who opens the door
Who holds the key to the mystery of eternity?    
 
 
. . .     . . .
 
The firstborn is an enigma
    an amulet
        a mirror 
    fused from burnished copper
    an icon of the sun buried in a grave
a grave in a riverbed in the grave of a river
 
 
 
The Key of Life
 
Pottery offering tray, with internal walls in a Meroitic form of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for the word ‘ankh ‘life’. The upper surface bears traces of red paint. 500 bc–ad 100. uc43990