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14 Jun 2022
Richard
Manly Heiman
Full Moon
Theban Holiday
Inspired by Nebamun Hunting
in the Marshes (c.1350 BCE)
I float
like waterfowl
gripped by twig legs,
weaponized
by you, father,
conquistador of birds,
colossus of reed boats.
Look—a tomcat dances,
bites on evening air
heedless of you.
He's an orange familiar
to your sorcery
between the sedge and sky.
I slink in shadow
beneath your legs
for shelter—
I know what follows
behind in the rushes.
Eternity.
Snaring you, me,
and a jewelled queen.
But fat black perch
with agate eyes don’t care
for ka and ba.
They know a deep world,
and that’s all. If only
you’d glance down, father.
You’d be afraid too.
Behind the poem...
The fresco of Nebamun Hunting in the Marshes speaks to me of immortality – for here is Nebamun, shown enjoying a favorite pursuit in the afterlife. Yet while his figure dominates the scene, the more poignant character in the scene is the daughter, who becomes the speaker in the poem. Seemingly sheltered beneath her father's form, she is looking at ... what? The approach of eternity? For me, there's a curious opposition here between perch and girl; between pure, ephemeral physicality, and a yearning for existence beyond this life. It amazes me how such a painting, at least 3,000 years old, can assume new meaning for an observer today.