Upon the Banks of the Nile | Teen Ink

Upon the Banks of the Nile

February 9, 2012
By AgentOrange789 GOLD, Friendswood, Texas
AgentOrange789 GOLD, Friendswood, Texas
16 articles 0 photos 59 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It's a saying they have, that a man has a false heart in his mouth for the world to see, another in his breast to show to his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is never known to anyone except to himself alone, hidden only God knows where."
-James Clavell, "Shogun"


The sun once rose
Bestowing its gift of light and warmth
Upon empires grand, pantheons mighty.
The highest of civilizations
Nesting upon the banks of the Nile.

And sands trickled slowly through the glass
And grains drifted innocently upon biting winds
Settling to form mounds, dunes, oceans
Blanketing the world in eternal whiteness.

And I ask...what was?
What imposing temples and magnificent shrines
Lay forgotten beneath the dune
Upon which I stand?
What stories of tragedy, suffering, despair,
Courage, honor, strength,
Lay dormant and forgotten
Under treacherous seas of time?
Of what great battles, of what grand conquests,
Do these strange symbols speak
Whose pigments and lines
Have been obscured by the ceaseless beating
Of great tempests of sand and wind?

What happened here shall never be known,
Only that it was great, perhaps terrible,
Definitely grand.
For what now remains
But scattered debris, weathered rocks,
Deep underground tombs...
Even the voices of the dead are silenced.

And still the sands trickle through the glass
And still grains drift innocently upon breezes of time
And the dunes and oceans grow ever larger
Obscuring the world we know in darkness.

And I watch as the sun rises
The chariot of Apollo, the manifestation of Atum-Ra himself
Evermore bestowing its light and warmth
As I sit in silent reverence
Upon the banks of the Nile.


The author's comments:
This poem is mostly about how with time, even the mightiest of realms will fall, and when they do, time will march on without them and forget about them, making room for the next big thing.

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This article has 5 comments.


dreamshaker said...
on Apr. 2 2012 at 10:20 pm
dreamshaker, Clarkston, Michigan
0 articles 0 photos 64 comments
I'm running out of creative ways to say that your poetry is amazing...I'm starting to repeat myself, I think, but oh well. I know I've said this before, but I feel like I need to say it again: you have some serious poetic talent.

This was stunning. The imagery was very powerful (as Behind_a_Plastic_Smile said, I felt like I was actually there) and I have to agree with Kinzi, my favorite line was "the chariot of Apollo, the manifestation of Atum-Ra himself".

dreamshaker said...
on Apr. 2 2012 at 10:20 pm
dreamshaker, Clarkston, Michigan
0 articles 0 photos 64 comments
I'm running out of creative ways to say that your poetry is amazing...I'm starting to repeat myself, I think, but oh well. I know I've said this before, but I feel like I need to say it again: you have some serious poetic talent.

This was stunning. The imagery was very powerful (as Behind_a_Plastic_Smile said, I felt like I was actually there) and I have to agree with Kinzi, my favorite line was "the chariot of Apollo, the manifestation of Atum-Ra himself".

on Mar. 6 2012 at 5:34 pm
Behind_a_Plastic_Smile GOLD, Roseville, California
17 articles 1 photo 129 comments

Favorite Quote:
"if you're not 1st you're last"

You have such great diction! You actually made me feel like i was there watching the beauty of the Nile come to life. This piece was so well written.

on Mar. 6 2012 at 3:18 pm
AgentOrange789 GOLD, Friendswood, Texas
16 articles 0 photos 59 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It's a saying they have, that a man has a false heart in his mouth for the world to see, another in his breast to show to his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is never known to anyone except to himself alone, hidden only God knows where."
-James Clavell, "Shogun"

Thanks so much! I actually haven't been to the Nile, but I would love to more than anything. I've always had this fascination with old, forgotten things, and how even the greatest events always become secrets.  Thanks again for your comments!

Kinzi GOLD said...
on Mar. 6 2012 at 2:06 pm
Kinzi GOLD, Cairo, Other
11 articles 0 photos 40 comments

Favorite Quote:
“There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.” -J.R.R. Tolkien

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” -Mother Teresa

The two things that make this poem are the imagery and the word choice. I could see everything. I could almost hear everything as well. Have you ever been to the Nile? [funny story- I actually live in Egypt so this poem sorta drew me in] Its interesting- I was actually more reminded of the deserts of Egypt, rather then the Nile. It's almost as if your persona is reflecting on all that as he/she sits upon the banks of the Nile. In a way, that presents a sort of irony for me [a good one]. The Nile is a source of life, and if you sit on its banks you find its actually very fertile and filled with all kinds of growth. In a way, this presents a hope in all the destruction of civilization- that even though all this has happened and society moves on, there is still leftover life. 

 

I especially like the line "The chariot of Appollo, the manifestation of Atum-Ra himself". This presents how the shift between large civilizations is already occuring, what with beginning to think of the sun-god as Apollo rather then Ra. 

 

Great job!