In My
Pyramid Texts
Sandy DeLuca
Osiris
holds me
as
we cross the sand of Philae…
cooler
as night deepens…
the
wind picks up,
carries
linen strips and
a
turquoise earring into the dark.
Who
wore it…
where
did she go?
Bones
rattle and the god whispers,
"Hold me."
I gaze at his legs,
Mummy-wrapped…
by Isis.
I grasp his waist, and
he
holds me tighter, too.
Doesn’t
speak as night gives way
to
dawn.
Temple silhouetted
against rocks…
secrets sealed with
litanies to Ra.
Beyond
the water,
pyramids
crumble…
and
a girl greets us,
white
sheath clings
to
bony form,
a knife wound in her
chest…
bloody earring in her
hand…
a dozen others rise from
limestone and granite.
Osiris nods,
and
I let go…
take a step back,
as
the dead greet the Nile.
I’ll wait until dawn,
then walk the desert
again…
in search of prayers and
gods.
©Sandy DeLuca 2024
Sandy DeLuca has
written
novels, several poetry and fiction collections and a few novellas. These
include critically acclaimed works such as DESCENT and MESSAGES FROM THE
DEAD. Over the past three years, she
also co-authored three novels with Greg F. Gifune.
She was a finalist
for the BRAM STOKER © for
poetry award in 2001, with BURIAL PLOT IN SAGITTARIUS; accompanied by her cover
art and interior illustrations. A copy is maintained in the Harris Collection
of American Poetry and Plays Poetry at Brown University, 1976-2000. She was
also nominated once more in 2014, with Marge Simon, for DANGEROUS DREAMS.
Her visual art has also been published in books and
magazines. It has been exhibited throughout New England and in New York’s
Hudson Valley.
She lives in Rhode Island with several feline companions,
including a black cat named Gypsy and her two sons, Gemini and Leo. Another
black cat, named Mojo, joined the household in 2023. He was born in her great
grandfather’s house, a structure that was once a stagecoach stop. It’s the
inspiration for recent short stories; and a novel in progress.
In addition to
her fiction, she is working on new poetry and a series of large-scale
expressionistic paintings. She spends some of her free time volunteering at a
local food pantry and a parrot sanctuary. Other interests include photographing
abandoned buildings and perusing secondhand shops.
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