Love Poem of the Long-Dead Egyptian – a poem by Liz Kendall

Love Poem of the Long-Dead Egyptian

When Lord Anubis weighs my heart
Be easy, love; you’ve done your part.
There’s years of heaviness I’ve brought
Upon myself with deed and thought,
But in the memory of your care
My heart’s no longer meat, but air.
The muscles do not squeeze, they play,
And so shall the inscription say:
Despite the harms received and dealt
In life, love’s truth may still be felt,
Continued in the underworld.
Imperfectly deserved, but pearls
Embrace the grit they grow around.
So tarnished hearts glow underground.

My travelling soul’s vitality,
Pathfinding ba, will rise wing-freed
To find the trail back to your skin.
To leave a kiss there, nestle in
Where scent and warmth and memory
Revive once more our unity
Before the grave asserts its pull.
I rest with heart both light and full.

Liz Kendall works as a Shiatsu and massage practitioner and Tai Chi Qigong teacher. Her poetry has been published by Candlestick Press, The Hedgehog Poetry Press, and Mslexia. Liz’s book Meet Us and Eat Us: Food plants from around the world is co-authored with an artist and ethnobotanist. It explores biodiversity through poetry, prose, and fine art photography. Her website is https://theedgeofthewoods.uk and she is on Twitter/X and Facebook @rowansarered, and on Instagram @meetusandeatus.