Harpist From Ur

Between two mighty rivers
The Fertile Crescent expands
                    Hanging Gardens
                    Babel Tower
                    Gates to Eden

An old indigenous man
Created a harp of his own
                    Arched bough, silver and gold
                    Lapis lazuli, ivory and pearl

Sumerian Queen Shub-Ad
Asleep in eternal silence
                    The harpist from the Royal Tomb
                    Distant memory of Atlantis

Amidst the ruins of a ziggurat
where the City once existed
an inscription carved in cuneiform
adorns the blazing wall of the temple

For the gods have abandoned us
like migrating birds they have gone
blood flows as the river does
the lamenting of men and women
sadness abounds
Ur is no more

Ur is no more...
                           ...No more...

 

Liliana Osses Adams,  Copyright  California, April 2003