Memories of Egypt

I miss her, Mother Egypt and those friends I left behind, timeless history, marvels and mysteries etched in stone by her own scribes. Longing for the waters of the nourishing River Nile and surrounding seas, the laughter and smiles of everyone who once loved and greeted me. Near the shores of Alexandria, Abu Qir and Fort Qaitbey, Where Cleopatra's palace once stood in somber ruins, she now lays. Near Pompei's Pillar and Roman remains of columns and fortress walls, white marble statues and museums filled with antiquities large and small. The sights and sounds in every town Of a marketplace lost in time, Selling goods from almonds to wildwood And candles to clocks that chime. In the land of the Eye of Horus, the son of Osiris the King, and Isis, Queen Precursor to Mary, Mother of God, Creator of everything. Cradle of Christianity and home to Pagan, Gnostic, Muslim, Jew, sanctuary where the Holy Family fled from evil to a warm and welcomed refuge. Where the mighty Sphinx and Pyramids stand silent, proud, and tall, in the salutary sands of time with eyes peering down upon us all. Temples of Luxor, Abu Simbel and Colossi of Memnon, Valleys of the Kings, Queens and Hatshepsut awakened, alive again each dawn. Mummification, adulation of life and death and stars, Constellations, incantations and the wonders of who we are. Battle tested, rarely rested waiting for the next invasion, of Persians, Greeks, Romans and those who seek your immeasurable treasures unabated. The ebb and flow of come and go throughout your long, hard years of growing seasons, rhythms and reasons to keep fighting back the tears. Yet never waned while fighting flames of one invasion to the next, while still your people smile and sing with a yoke upon their neck. In a land that never loses the allure or enigma of mankind's birth, where magic and myth still hold their grip on whatever we think life’s worth. Mother Egypt, truth be told, I miss you more than all your gold and antiquities that survive, where I once sipped cappuccino watching history passing by.