A Love Poem From Ancient Kemet
how beautiful is your beloved,
the one adored of your heart,
when she has returned from the meadow!
my beloved, my darling,
my heart longs to you love
for that is all that you created!
I say to you:
See what happened!
I came ready to trap birds,
snare in one hand,
my cage in the other
together with my mat.
all the birds of the land Punt
have descended on Kemet,
anointed with myrrh.
the first to come takes my bait.
its fragrance comes from Punt,
its claws full of balm.
my heart desires you
let us release it together
I am with you, I alone,
to let you hear the sound of my call,
for my lovely myrrh-anointed one.
My god, my lotus
The north wind blows
How pleasant it is to go to the river.
My heart longs to go down to bathe before you,
that I may show you my beauty in a tunic
of the finest royal linen,
drenched in fragrant oils,
my hair plaited in reeds.
I'd go down to the water with you,
and come out to you carrying a red fish,
which feels just right in my fingers.
I'd set it before you, while gazing at your beauty.
O my hero, my beloved, come and see me!
am I not here with you?
then why have you set your heart to leave?
why don't you embrace me?
has my deed come back upon me?
if you seek to caress my thighs
is it because you are thinking of food
that you would go away?
or because you are a slave to your belly?
is it because you care about clothes?
well, I have a bedsheet!
is it because you are hungry
that you would leave?
then take my breasts
that their gift may flow forth to you.
better a day in the embrace of my beloved
than thousands on thousands anywhere else!
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