The Names of the Queen
Time and a river run through the ancient realm, in rhythmic
waves that flow through desert land and dynasty alike.
And so, a thousand years and more before Cleopatra ruled,
another queen, Tausret, sat on ancient Egypt’s throne – as king.
The names she took hint life and death, flowing, river-like,
between genders, relationships, and roles, with ostentation and
yet with charm:
Strong Bull, Beloved of Truth,
Lord beautiful of appearance, like the god Atum,
Founder of Egypt, who subdues foreign lands,
Daughter of the god Ra, beloved of the god Amun,
Mighty Lady, chosen of the goddess Mut.
Calling herself Lady of the Two Lands of Egypt as well as
Lord of the Two Lands, Tausret knew the intricate web of
life’s ongoing game of thrones, and the ironies within our
lives – we who live by time and the river’s flow, and then
are washed away by them. Her names, her dreams, were
stone-carved in temple and in tomb – but in an eternal land,
even stone is weak and all too soon is overthrown.
As dynasties rose and fell, her monuments of forever were
torn apart to be reused – a legacy impugned, covered and
at last destroyed. And yet her names live on in hieroglyphs
that breathe in books, real, yet surreal; there, but not; then
there again – like the river’s ebb and flow, like the
capriciousness of gods, like shadows on the sand.
“Richard West” was Regents’ Professor of Classics in a large public university and has published numerous books, as well as many articles and poems, under his own name or various pen names. His poems have appeared in more than twenty literary journals. He now lives in the American Desert Southwest, where he enjoys learning to cook and attempting to add flavor to his poems. He is the excavator of the Temple of Queen-King Tausert – the subject of this poem.
Amethyst Review 