aayounghe told me
it was that sexy little upturned swish
at the corner of my amber eyes
the curve i sometimes place
at the edge of my eyeliner
which told him
that i had both the flour sifting power
to bake him the perfect cake
or command my egyptian armies
to cut off his empire’s
holy roman grain supply
i have become
cleopatra upon her litter
exiled
carried aloft in a bed built for an inconvenient queen
above the melded glass sands of blood and grain
desert winds my howling comfort
cast out by a tyrant brother
ptolemy’s thirteenth incarnation
each generation more of a reason
he must die in the nile
little husband
and his geldings
i am chained by the ankle for you
to this land
these people
we are egypt
through my opium haze
i see my blessed alexandria
and pray before jackal headed gods
to return me from this death
my eyes follow the light
of the marble watch tower
emanating from the isle of pharos
ancient port
deliver me guidance and knowing papyrus
so that i may find my way
to the great whore mother streets
her libraries
and temples built
i shall seduce caesar and his army
if the gods make it so
resurrect the statue of me