#cleopatra
Minha Cleópatra
Se eu vivesse em teu reino,
ajoelhado estaria,
porque em ti até o caos em mim se acalma.
Minha Cleopatra
Meu amor além dos séculos.
Em seus cabelos escuros, vejo a noite sem fim
No brilho dos seus olhos,
Me vejo em ruínas.
Se o tempo ousasse voltar…
Tu ainda escolherias a mim?
Minha Cleopatra
o instante exato em que me perco de mim
e passo a existir apenas onde você está.
Te quero acima, inalcançável e eterna.
Te quero onde não se toca,
onde não se alcança,
onde só se observa
com uma mistura de desejo e ruína.
Mesmo que a vida me leve,
existe um lugar
quieto, profundo, intacto
onde ainda é você.
Sempre você.
Apr 11
Apr 11, 2026 at 9:17 AM UTC
I am a princess
With a dress made of flowers
I'm going to dance in the rain till the whole world decays
And even after i'll dance for hours in my dress made of flowers
I am a princess
With a dress made from gold,
The women who melt at my touch have all their names in a jar
I sleep in the clouds and never have to awaken until my princess charming wakes me with a single honeydew kiss
I am a princess
With music in my dress
I hide from the king while making love with the jest
Thinking about pretty animals and love when i ride to the ball
To sing songs about the beginning and end of it all
I am a princess
With a dress made with love
With my steed rushing past lighting warm fires in the grass
Hooves click clacking on the ground that we run
Oh being a princess is such fun
So yes, I am a princess drinking lovely gold flowers in my room, cleopatra and i will be together again soon.
Dec 2, 2020
Dec 2, 2020 at 12:12 AM UTC
The haunting sky continued to produce the army of ghost clouds...
Lightning flashed anger...
And the curses of the gods broke the gates of heaven unannounced....!
The cries of hell were heard as a million souls fought to save my holy Land...
An oath seared into their skin to save the glory of their queen...
And I.... I stood watching with flaming eyes...
The threat to my would be orphaned land and sighed at the pieces of the remaining hours of my story...
Helpless I sat tearless... gazing into the dying horizon...
How I had lived as a lioness... How I had consolidated my existence into the minds of my beloved people... How I had taken Egypt to the zenith of wonders... How I had pierced into the souls of women the right to a dignity...
But now as I hold my head high to the grim awaiting in the courtyard... I swear to never let the filthy hands of invaders lay upon me. I call upon the Lord of serpents... To cradle me to the dreams of heaven by caressing it's bite into my skin..
This is a trail I leave to all my people... I am dying for you... O my beloved all...
May you live in peace!. ..
...
Ma..y Egy.... p... t live.... long..!
...!
The end
Jul 26, 2020
Jul 26, 2020 at 6:25 AM UTC
My dream was to ship my relation to the mark on the map.
Unimaginable when my treasure; Cleo, marked our love as Anthony.
A relationship of lush, love and power.
Heavy drinkers just for fun, we called ourselves "livers".
Your liver collapsed by the poison caused by our lavish lifestyle.
Our power together was unbeatable but failed miserable when you made my heart stop beating.
But our love was forever so you decided to meet me in the life hereon after.
Jun 17, 2020
Jun 17, 2020 at 5:56 AM UTC
How do we take control of our story once we’re dead?
How do we write the wrongs that men have written
Over and over and over again
Seared into our minds like a brand
You see, we don’t see you for what you were
We only see you as how you were told
Just another hedonistic woman in history whose own downfall was herself
Its all out of your control now
Your image is wrecked and ruined
You’ve been forgotten and ******
By both the gods and the people
And the worst part is
Is that no one can ever truly fix that
And it makes you think
How many times has this happened?
Again and again and again
Apr 15, 2020
Apr 15, 2020 at 2:28 PM UTC
Musings at Giza
by Michael R. Burch
In deepening pools of shadows lies
the Sphinx, and men still fear his eyes.
Though centuries have passed, he waits.
Egyptians gather at the gates.
Great pyramids, the looted tombs
—how still and desolate their wombs!—
await sarcophagi of kings.
From eons past, a hammer rings.
Was Cleopatra's litter borne
along these streets now bleak, forlorn?
Did Pharaohs clad in purple ride
fierce stallions through a human tide?
Did Bocchoris here mete his law
from distant Kush to Saqqarah?
or Tutankhamen here once smile
upon the children of the Nile?
or Nefertiti ever rise
with wild abandon in her eyes
to gaze across this arid plain
and cry, “Great Isis, live again!”
Published by Golden Isis and The Eclectic Muse
Keywords/Tags: Ancient, Egypt, Giza, Sphinx, pyramids, tombs, sarcophagi, Cleopatra, pharaohs, Bocchoris, Kush, Saqqarah, Tutankhamen, Nile, Nefertiti, Isis
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN POETRY TRANSLATIONS
These are my modern English translations of ancient Egyptian poems, love lyrics and Harper's songs.
An Ancient Egyptian Love Lyric (circa 1085-570 BC)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Is there anything sweeter than these hours of love,
when we're together, and my heart races?
For what is better than embracing and fondling
when you visit me and we surrender to delights?
If you reach to caress my thigh,
I will offer you my breast also —
it's soft; it won't jab you or ****** you away!
Will you leave me because you're hungry?
Are you ruled by your belly?
Will you leave me because you need something to wear?
I have chests full of fine linen!
Will you leave me because you're thirsty?
Here, **** my ******* They're full to overflowing, and all for you!
I glory in the hours of our embracings;
my joy is incalculable!
The thrill of your love spreads through my body
like honey in water,
like a drug mixed with spices,
like wine mingled with water.
Oh, that you would speed to see your sister
like a stallion in heat, like a bull to his heifer!
For the heavens have granted us love like flames igniting straw,
desire like the falcon's free-falling frenzy!
Egyptian Love Song
(circa the 13th or 14th century BC)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Lover, let’s slip down to the pond;
I’ll bathe while you watch me from the nearest bank.
I’ll wear my sexiest swimsuit, just for you,
made of sheer linen, fit for a princess!
Come, see how it looks when it’s wet!
Can I coax you to wade in with me?
To let the cool water surround us?
Then I’ll dive way down deep, just for you,
and come up dripping,
letting you feast your eyes
on the little pink fish I’ve found.
Then I’ll say, standing there in the shallows:
"Look at my little pink fish, love,
as I hold it in my hand.
See how my fingers caress it,
slipping down its sides, then inside!
See how it wiggles?"
But then I’ll giggle softly and sigh,
my eyes bright with your seeing:
It’s a gift, my love, no more words!
Come closer and see ...
it’s all me!
Metaphor and simile have been with the human race for thousands of years. This is an excerpt from an ancient Egyptian poem estimated to be around 4,000 years old:
Excerpt from "Dialogue of a Misanthrope with His Soul"
(ancient Egyptian poem circa 2000 BC)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Death lies before me:
like a sick man’s recovery,
like entering a garden after an interminable illness.
Death lies before me:
like the fragrance of myrrh,
like sitting beneath a billowing sail with a favorable wind.
Death lies before me:
like swimming in the course of a stream,
like a man’s return from the slave-galley to freedom.
Death lies before me:
like the sky when it clears,
like a man's longing to see his home after countless years of captivity.
Ancient Egyptian Harper’s Songs
The first carpe diem or "seize the day" poems may be the various versions of the ancient Egyptian "Harper's Song" (or "Song of the Harper"). These may also be the oldest "ubi sunt" or "where are they now" poems. Such poems were inscribed in Egyptian tombs along with the image of a blind man playing a harp. Thus it is believed these were songs performed during funeral services for the deceased. Versions of the "Harper's Song" found in tombs of the Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2181 BC) tend to be short and traditional in regard to the afterlife (i.e., affirmative). Middle Kingdom (c. 2055-1786 BC) and New Kingdom (1539-1075 BC) versions tend to be longer and sometimes encourage listeners to "seize the day" while rejecting the more traditional Egyptian view of eternity (for instance, satirizing large funerary monuments and saying possessions cannot be taken into the afterlife). Such updated versions of the "Harper's Song" include "Harper's Song: Tomb of Neferhotep" and " Harper's Song: Tomb of Inherkhawy." These are my personal favorites of both genres ...
This song comes from a tomb which contains an image of Djehutiemheb and Hedjmetmut seated at an offering table while their son, dressed as a priest, pours libations and burning incense before them. It seems the song may be a blessing being voiced by the son, as the text appears before his representation.
Harper's Song: Tomb of Djehutiemheb
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
... The sky is opened for you,
the earth opened for you,
for you the good path leads into the Necropolis.
You enter and exit like Re.
You stride unhindered like the Lords of Eternity ...
This song from the funerary stela of Iki depicts the deceased sitting at an offering table with his wife, with the rotund harpist Neferhotep sitting on the other side of the table. Neferhotep was one of the earliest known Egyptian singer/harpists. His portrait and his song were included on the stela of a man named Iki.
Harper's Song: Tomb of Iki
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
O tomb, you were prepared for a festival,
your foundations anchored in happiness!
The harpist Neferhotep, son of Henu.
***
The stela of Nebankh from Abydos contains a Harper's Song with the deceased depicted sitting at an offering table with the harpist squatting before him:
Harper's Song: Tomb of Nebankh
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Tjeniaa the singer says:
Now you are seated securely in eternity,
in your eternal monument!
Your tomb is filled with food-offerings
and complete with every fitting thing.
Your soul is with you
and will never desert you,
Royal Treasurer and Seal-Bearer, Nebankh!
The sweet north wind is now your breath!
So says the honorable singer Tjeniaa,
whom he loved and who keeps his name alive
by singing to his soul every day.
Interestingly, the three Harper's songs found in the tomb of the priest Neferhotep seem to display very different viewpoints about the afterlife, if we can take the first two to be saying that death is peaceful because no one is doing anything ...
Harper's Song: Tomb of Neferhotep
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I.
I have heard songs inscribed in ancient tombs,
extolling earth-life while belittling the Beyond ...
but why condemn the kingdom of Eternity,
the just and the fair,
which holds no terrors?
II.
Death abhors violence: no man there arms himself against his brother.
No one rebels in that peaceful kingdom.
All our ancestors rest there, since man’s earliest days;
the multitudes assemble there, every one,
for none may tarry overlong in the land of Egypt.
There is no one who will not cross over.
III.
Earth-life is no more than the span of a dream,
but fair welcomes are given when one reaches the West.
Harper's Song: Tomb of Intef
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
(from the tomb of the Pharaoh Intef)
Here lies a happy prince
because death is the kindest fate.
One generation passes, another remains:
so it has been since our eldest ancestors.
Now those who were once "gods" rest in their sepulchers
along with other nobles
and those who built their tombs.
Their palaces are gone,
and what has become of them?
What of the words of Imhotep and Hardedef,
whose sayings are still recited entire?
What of their palaces?
Their walls have collapsed into ruins,
their halls have vanished
as if they never existed!
And no one returns from that realm
to inform us of their state
or to calm our fears.
We remain in the dark until we join them ...
Hence, rejoice with happy hearts!
It is best to forget: heedlessness is happiness!
Humor your hearts as long as you live!
Perfume your hair with myrrh,
adorn yourself in your finest linens,
anoint yourself with the costliest oils, fit for a god,
heap up your treasures here on earth!
Let your heart remain buoyant! Don't let it sink!
Humor your heart and find happiness!
Here on earth, do as your heart demands!
What use is mourning,
when weary-hearted Osiris pays tears no heed?
Weeping and wailing spares no man from the grave,
so make every day your holiday. Never tire of joy's pursuits!
Because no one is allowed to take his possessions with him
and none who departs ever returns!
This song, also known as “The Lay of the Harper,” appears in the tomb of Paatenemheb, where the introductory line says it was copied from the tomb of a King Intef (a name used by several kings from 11th and 17th dynasties). The poem is also preserved in the Ramesside New Kingdom Harris 500 papyrus. These works are accepted by scholars as being a copy of a genuine Middle Kingdom text.
Keywords/Tags: Egypt, Egyptian, poem, poems, poetry, translation, translations, English, harper, harpers songs, love poems, love songs, love lyrics
Apr 8, 2020
Apr 8, 2020 at 4:48 AM UTC
Egyptian contractors are hard to trust
they're into pyramid schemes
King Tut was a whiny baby
who had mummy issues
Cleopatra turned out to be
a lazy queen who sat on her asp
Mar 17, 2020
Mar 17, 2020 at 3:52 PM UTC
Do you recall being stardust?
I don’t.
But, that’s what they say.
Elements forged in fusion’s crucible;
atoms born in the hearts of stars.
Do you recall being a comet’s tail?
Do you recall a time in space?
I don’t,
but then, it’s been a while.
Do you recall the lakes and streams;
swimming as fish,
or being water?
Do you recall the plains
when we roamed as beasts,
great and small?
Were you an antelope, a butterfly, a bird?
Were you a flower?
Were you Cleopatra?
Was I…Anthony, or just
some tea in Cleopatra’s cup?
(Did Cleopatra even drink tea?
I don’t know.)
Do you recall when you said
you loved me?
I do.
They told me,
“don’t fall in love with stardust.”
But then, what choice did I have?
Sep 9, 2019
Sep 9, 2019 at 11:04 PM UTC
You have to forget me .
the moment you met me.
Ages ago.
You have to forgive me
the moment you kissed me.
Months ago.
You have to escape me.
the moment you touched me.
Days ago.
You have to believe me.
the moment you lost me .
Tomorrow.
Today.
Yesterday.
Centuries ago...
Cleopatra
Jul 27, 2019
Jul 27, 2019 at 8:41 AM UTC
as her ladies paint
her blue blood on her lips
Cleopatra speaks:
“queens die like this:
with the theatrics
of the crowning ceremony
and the proud negligence
of the morning toilette:
the gods-awful magnificence
of a wrist-flick:
draw me my milk bath,
bring me my venom pills.”
Jul 10, 2019
Jul 10, 2019 at 1:07 PM UTC
Better to be Pyramus and Thisbe
than god Apollo and Daphne?
As love oft triumphed by envy.
Oh to be Abelard and Heloise
or Juliet you and Romeo me!
Cleopatra, Marc Antony,
Orpheus, and Eurydice!
Martyrs to Cupid, were you wary
of the price to pay? Did you find peace
from Plato’s coined mental disease
in Pluto’s long halls of Hades
or the self induced daily shade of trees?
What of love dooming kin to Achilles?
When Dido and Aeneas meet
is her suicide guaranteed?
Pray tell us, can true love ever be free!
May 27, 2019
May 27, 2019 at 9:14 AM UTC
I always look
my most beautiful
when I cry;
the bags under my eyes
burn as poignantly
as waning crescents,
lips plump as they quiver
with the same multitudes
of Artemis' bowstring,
chest heave-hoeing
against the tempered
vessel of my soul.
I wear sadness
remarkably well,
you know.
Like black lipstick.
or short hair.
or poetry.
(Cleopatra's got nothing on me, baby)
My reflection tessellates
against the swell of my tears,
evolves into
kaleidoscopic fractals
of smouldering thrones
and howling queens--
into images most
strange and terrible.
(But, oh, how I welcome them.)
A delicate curtsy of words
respires from my mouth,
forms upon my tongue
its homage--
hail thy shattered kingdom
hail thy shattered kingdom
hail thy shattered kingdom.
Dec 31, 2018
Dec 31, 2018 at 2:52 PM UTC
Cleopatra, like Caesar my heart concedes
And even though it is only one sided
The hardest quest would be to get you out of my head
Always dedicated to all your needs
Infamy I have bestowed upon myself
The fire burning the hearth of my soul, never dimming
I would give my self to you for your trimming
A romance that you would leave on a shelf
Cleopatra you are the most pure, the most precious
For your happiness I would play the vicious
To be your obsession I would be cottonweed
Wondering if I have truly spoke with you
Could it be that I mirrored myself unto you
Veritably it is not love but only greed
Dec 21, 2018
Dec 21, 2018 at 5:43 PM UTC
it reminds me of the mid August heat
of his old decaying teeth
it reminds me of the smell of paint
and music that makes me happy
of ukuleles
and faint bird chirps
of sumptuous velvet by my bare toes
and icing on cake
of cereal and sunday mornings
and mom’s freckles in the sun
of thunder and lightning
and mattresses pressed against my back
of the gold he embellishes me with
and old recordings on tape
of ee cummings and maya angelou
and a time were it was easier to live, but harder to survive
of Cleopatra and reigning women
of God and answered prayers.
yellow reminds me of elation and euphoria
and a field of sunflowers aching for me to dive in.
Nov 18, 2018
Nov 18, 2018 at 9:14 AM UTC
Cleopatra and
Patroclus reflect upon
the same cursed mirror
Sep 14, 2018
Sep 14, 2018 at 5:58 PM UTC
There's more to this woman
than her passion
swallowing
politics
Aug 29, 2018
Aug 29, 2018 at 3:11 PM UTC
In the middle of the Roman empire
And under the Cesar's throne
No one thought of a story bein overblown
As Pompeii lost his wife and hated Cesar
Cesar got betrayed, killed Pompeii
That was common tragic teaser
But what unfolded the truth?
As the words came out of Cleopatra
Cesar ****** and hooked
But that was too mainstream no?
She was just bound to love him
Cuz she had no support for her own
Cesar, killed by politics and forgotten
Anthony his commander
Took the survey and went Egypt often
The women that he ****** had no honor
A devil in form of a *****
Just some good clothes and venal
Anthony put on the Egyptian antimony
Found love in Cleopatra
Left that ***** filled with insanity
Then as he was hated for loving foreign
Octavian lost faith
And headed for killing the fallen
Anthony didn't wanna die as a traitor
Stabbed himself
Wore the king's robe as dictator
Cleopatra saw that and cried
She bit herself by snake
And later died
Chaperones picked both up
Sat them on their thrones
Romans came and were blown
Aug 3, 2018
Aug 3, 2018 at 12:58 PM UTC
"I am enough"
She said to the mirror,
Dull eyes gazing back
Her reflection recreating regal
expressions
That coming so naturally before, now were cracked
"I am beautiful"
She said, with silver tears
Brimming in her eyes
In the daytime she was Clepatra
Aching for affirmation, filled with ***** lies
Standing in her own presence
No lines so sweetly versed
No role to be rehearsed
Fists clenched, lips tightly pursed
Oh beautiful tragedy! you lost your identity...
the ache is stayed with the plunge of a blade
breaching the chasm which once held your heart
Dec 5, 2017
Dec 5, 2017 at 6:49 PM UTC