A Tomb Raider and the Absent Chalices of Egypt

I’d expected to see the luster

and sparkling desire of the ancient

paraded about, dripping from every

angle inside limestone walls – the last

remnants of an irrecoverable past.

Piles of oozing gold and gemstones,

draped upon the hollow eyes

of a skeleton at its throne,

its soul laughing immortally

amongst the gods, holding a

transparent chalice studded with diamonds,

blood-red rubies, and emeralds – drinking

holy communion.

There was nothing.

Only cool darkness and the smell

of death wallpaper the inside of

these tombs. The enameled face

of the pyramid, beaconing marvel,

weathered by ageless wind and time

fell victim to pillage and industrialization –

the city lies only a hop-skip away, tainting

the stunning primacy of the fourth dynasty.

And still, within the temple of the Sphinx,

Napoleonic fear erupts, its cavernous face

daring to dribble a riddle once more.

But it doesn’t, and the last of the metamorphic

Hollywood illusion falls to dust in the Egyptian wind.