Lathaprem Sakhya A Sonnet On Egypt

Oh, Egypt! "mansion of the spirit of Ptah'' and great Pharaohs' land, The 'Land of Ham' the most ancient civilization of the world, The "Gift of Nile", you were baptised by Herodotus, a historian renowned On "kemet" the black inundated soil, your blossoming life unfurled.

The three seasons, wrought by flood, agriculture and harvest. Made you a worldly rich, magnificent kingdom, ruled by Pharaohs supreme, Your religious and state heads, who lived and laid their impress august, By fabricating structural marvels, using their artisans' skills, extreme.

Your ruled your people structured like the pyramids you built, Believing in an afterlife to sustain your "ka", and in the sun God, Ra -Horakhty Your largest pyramid in Giza, the great Khufu initiated to construct Guarded by the human headed, lion bodied Sphinx, a marvel, a rarity.

Oh, Egypt! you remain a marvellous land of fascinating splendour, Attracting people from near and far to gape at your marvels in awesome wonder.

Notes on words.

Ka - spirit, energy, power Ptah - an Egyptian deity, a creator God and patron of craftsmen and architects Ra-Horakhty is the sun God Land of Ham ham means black or burnt, the colour of the land's fertile soil near the River Nile. In the Bible Egypt is referred to as the Land of Ham.

Lathaprem Sakhya (b. 1959) a retired English professor, a poet, painter and self styled green woman, working with pen, brush and spade as the mood takes her, is a published poet and a yarn spinner. A regular contributor to literary e-journals and anthologies, she is settled in Perumbavoor in Kochi, Kerala State, India, with her family. Her published works are Memory Rain (2008) Nature at my Doorstep (2011) Vernal Strokes (2015)