Haiku

Soft blanket of snow
Memories lingering still
caress a cold corpse

Ancient Voices Egypt

Your words, dear man, are as sacred to me
As the invigorating and inspiring trips to holy land,
As the endless truth I taste in your kiss,
As the warmth of the fire pit to one coming home
From the harsh winds of the street.

It is like a fresh fish to the mouths of the hungry,
Like the raw beauty I see in the work of true artisans,
Like a moist fruit which explodes its wonderful juices into my thirsty mouth.

While swift days will come and go
I will turn to you, my secret lover,
To calm my stresses, and to heighten my senses.
And I shall keep running to you, in lust and happiness
But the new moon brings woman’s worst fear:
Choosing between two lords
Having a sort of love for both of them.

My mind rejoices, my heart suffers
As it is stretched and pulled,
Torn and sewn back together,
In my quest to find true love.

The frigid, dark moon quickly turned into a hot, wild sun in a stunning winter sunrise in the ancient Egyptian city of Sechet-Hemat. A close nit family consisting of the mother, who was extremely sick and barely got out of her bed, Amulet, the stunningly beautiful daughter, and Rameses, the father, who was killed in the great storm of Imhotep when Amulet was just a child. Amulet rose with the sun, and began her household duties. Her long trip to the well was exceptionally pleasant this morning; the crisp air whipping against her soft cheek complemented the rising heat nicely.
In their modest, single-room brick home, close to the tomb site of the village, Amulet often cooked and ate on the easily accessible flat rooftop of her home. She prepared breakfast as usual, and loyally served it to her mother in her bed. As they ate, they talked of social, political, and personal issues; easily mistakable for two best friends. They told each other everything; Rameses’ death had brought them closer than they had ever been before.
Akh, Amulet’s faithful companion since childhood, loved her divinely and spent every moment he could with his beautiful girlfriend. Her love for him became overlooked in recent days, as her thoughts drifted more towards her mother and her concentration on him diminished considerably. They still had a bond which was unbreakable, since they grew up in the same town together. Amulet was fearless, though, which often times frightened Akh that her eyes would stray. He thought correctly, for that is exactly the base of this story; Amulet’s decision between her loyal companion of many years, and her addicting affairs with Seti, her secret lover.
No one knew about Amulet and Seti, not a soul. Except for mother, but knowing her condition, Amulet was confident that the information would stop at mother’s lips. Maybe it was Amulet’s ignorant, youthful nature (she was merely 20 years old) which drew her into such a mess as this affair. Nevertheless, she knew love and she definitely knew lust, and her passions for the two are what pushed her eyes to wander from loyal Akh.
Seti was a strong, handsome, tall man with invitingly dark features. The moment Amulet laid her eyes on him, she had to have him. The fact that she consequently questioned her feelings for Akh, though, shook her to the bone. Never had she had questioning feelings about her love for Akh before. However, she knew what she wanted, and she wanted Seti.
Her mother listened intuitively, fully embracing everything her daughter spilled out onto the bed. She empathized with Amulet and provided comfort for her.
“Seeing Akh’s passionate face gets me through the day, but the feel of Seti’s fingers to my skin brings me peace of mind and insurmountable pleasures. The balance I maintain between the two men calms me, but the betrayal wrenches my soul.”
A knock on the door distracted them from their conversation. Amulet opened the door, relieved to see Akh’s smiling face on the other side.
“Let’s take a walk, my love. I have much to tell you about my plans for the summer.”
She happily obliged, cleaned her breakfast plates and then departed for the walk that would change her life. Akh spoke of long travels to foreign lands where gold and riches were more abundant than they were in Egypt. They talked all afternoon, Akh trying to convince Amulet to come with him in his travels, so that they could grow old together in some foreign village far away. She was flattered to say the least, but could not make a decision before consulting her mother, who depended on Amulet for survival.
That night, lying in bed, Amulet’s thoughts were deep in distant travels, cotton robes, and gold galore as she considered Akh’s offer. Just then, she heard a whisper at her window, and to her delight, it was Seti. Happy to break from her busy mind, Amulet went with Seti to the fields and they slept together that night under the stars. Early that morning, in the magical time before morning settles in, yet after the night has already left, Seti confessed his love for her under the disappearing stars. Her heart fluttered, and her mind wanted to explode. So caught up in her feelings was she that she couldn’t choose on her own. She loved both of these men, but in different ways, she explained to her mother the next day. Her mother obviously was aware of her affairs, but did not know of the seriousness of it.
Her mother had one thing to say: “The love of a childhood friend is more potent and pure than the love of a thousand lovers combined.”
Amulet was crushed by her mother’s advice, but knew it was all to true. Her betrayal to honest Akh had gone on too long. Her heart was crushed and exhausted, yet she knew what she had to do.