LOTUS

(Poems from the Land of KMT)



from THE PYRAMID TEXTS

1.   (467)

He who's flying flies
he flies away from you mortals
he is no longer on earth
he is in the sky

his metropolitan god
his ka
is beside you

he leaps towards the sky
like a heron
he kisses the sky
like a hawk
he has leapt towards the sky
like a grasshopper.


2.   (335)

They are overjoyed
those who see him
crowned with the crown
of Ra
his cloak surrounds him
like that of Hathor
his plumage is like that
of a hawk
he flies into the sky
to the gods
his brothers.


3.   (276)

This is your heart Musar
these are your feet
these your arms
that is his own heart
those his own feet
his own arms

Stairs to the sky
are built for him
so that he may
ascend thereto

He rises like the smoke
in great expectation

Like a bird he flies
taking his place like a beetle
on an empty seat
in the ship of Ra
"Get up, go
from here...
that he may sit
in your chair"

He rows skyward
from your heaven
he is there
staff in hand
he is the navigator
of your barge o Ra

You raise yourself
to the sky and are
far away from this world...


4.   (210)

Awake Thoth
Thoth get up
awake who are asleep
stir yourselves
you who are in Kmt
before the great bittern
that has risen from the Nile
and Anubis has emerged
from his tamarisk

His mouth is pure
he has been cleansed
by the double Nine
of the gods
his tongue within his mouth
is pure
he loathes dung
and rejects urine
he loathes himself
because he loathes
he loathes this
and does not eat...

The two of you
that travel through the sky
Ra and Thoth
take him to you
let him be with you
that he may eat
from which you eat
that he may drink
from which you drink
that he may live
by that which keeps you alive
that he may live
where you live
that he might be strong
which that which you are strong
that he may go
to where you might go

His shop is set up
in the field of Iaru
and his drink
is in the field where
one offers food
his food is with you
you gods
and his water is
like that of wine
like the water of Ra

He embraces the sky
like Ra
and like Thoth
transverses it.


5.   (439)

He is Satis
who has seized the two lands
the one who is burning
who takes hold
of both river banks

He has gone into the sky
and has found Ra
who rises up
when he comes near him
and seats himself beside him
for Ra does not let him
suffer the indignity
of sitting on the ground
knowing that he is 
greater than he is himself

He is more glorified
than the glorified
more excellent
than the excellent
more enduring
than the eternal ones
his hall is a mistress
who offers food

He has supported him
in the north sky
seizing the two lands
like a king.


6.   (257)

"There is conflict in heaven
we see things that are new"
so the gods who come before speak

The Nine of Horus
is taken aback
the Lords of Forms
are afraid of him
the complete double Nine
serves him
and he occupies the throne
of the first god

He takes the sky by force
he splits the metal
he is lead along the road
to Khepre
he is alive in the west
those who live in Aquert
follow him
as he rises newly in the east

He who awarded the conflict
comes to him
to pay homage
the gods fear him
because he is older
than the Great One
it is he himself
who has power
over the seat
he has hold of the Word
eternity is brought to him
insight is placed by his feat

Raise your voice to him
is joy
he has captured 
the horizon.


7.   (273 - 274)

Sky overcast
shooting stars
bows moved
earth-bones tremble...
when they notice him
how he looks
and is animated
like a god
who eats
his father and his
mother

He is of the land of...
whose name is
unknown
even to his mother

His glory is in the sky
his power in the horizon
like Atum his father
who gave him life
but
he is stronger

His Kas surrounds him
his worth beneath his feet
his gods with him
his serpent on his brow
his ureaus upon his forehead
...................
protected by his powers

He comes as the great one
lord of the administrators
he sits with his back
turned to Keb
and he passes judgment
with the one of the hidden name
on this day
the day he slays the elders

He is the lord
offering the food
the one who
ties the knot
preparing his own meal

He eats men
lives on the gods
keeps messengers
and sends letters

The one who grasps horns
who is in...
he takes them for him
by force
the serpent of the
resplendent head
he guards the for him
he guides them to him
Heri-terut
he binds them for him
the runner who has
all the knives
strangles them for him
he pulls out their entrails
for him
he who is the messenger
whom he has sent to...
the one of the wine-press
he cuts them apart
for him
cooking part of them for him
in his evening meal

He eats their magic
and swallows their lordliness
these their great ones
become his breakfast
the middle ones
his lunch
and the little ones
his supper
the old men and the
women are assigned
to burn his incense
the great ones
inhabiting the northern
sky
they kindle the fire
in his stove
to heat the kettles
when the thighs of the
elders
are beneath them
those who dwell
within the sky
serve him
and the pots are
wiped clean for him
with the legs
of the women

He has circumnavigated
the two skies
he has transcended
the two shores
he is the great one
the mighty one
who has power over
the other mighty ones
...................
the one he encounters
on his way
he eats him raw

The nobles
who live on the horizon
he is at the head
of them
he is a god who is
older than the elders
thousands serve him
hundreds sacrifice
to him
Orion the father
of the gods
has appointed him
as the great one
the mighty one
he is newly crowned
in the sky
and wears the crown
as the lord of the
horizon

He has broken the necks
and the primal cords
he has stolen the hearts
of the gods
he has devoured the
red crown
swallowed the
green crown
he feeds on the lungs
of the wise ones
his need is satisfied
by living on the hearts
and their magic
he is happy when he
devours them...
which are
in the red crown
he flourishes and their
magic is in his stomach
he is not made to be
indignant
he has swallowed
the understanding of all gods

He is eternal
and his boundary is eternal
in his dignity
"if he wants to
so he does
if he doesn't
then he doesn't"
he is one who is
eternally
in the boundary
of the horizon

Alas his stomach has
their soul
he has their aloofness
his excess of food
is more than that of the gods
and it is their bones
which are burned for him
within their souls
and their shadows
hug close to their companions

He rises rises
hides hides
the place he chooses
is amongst the living
who inhabit this land
for all eternity.


8.   (440)

If you want to live
o Horus
that is by his....
of the constellation of Truth
then you lock the gates
of the sky
..................
when you lead his Ka
into the sky
to the ancient ones
by the gods
those who lean
upon their sceptres
keeping guard over
Upper Egypt
who are dressed
in red clothes
who subside on figs
drinking wine
and are anointed with
fine oils

Let him speak about him
to the great god
let him lead him
to the great god.


9.   (518)

O ferryman of the field
where flood is offered
bring this to me
it is he
hurry
he has come
he who is the son
of the morning barge
to whom she gave birth
against the wishes
of the earth
his birth unblemished
by which two lands
become alive

He is the year's harbinger
o Ausar
look how he comes
with a message for Keh
your father
"the harvest this year
is plentiful
plentiful is this years
harvest
the harvest this year
is good
good is this year's
harvest"

He has descended
with the double nine
into the cold water
he who is the architect
for the double nine
the founder of the field
where food is offered
he found the gods
waiting for him
clothed in raiments
upon their feet
white sandals
then they cast their
white sandals to the ground
cast off their cloak
"
our hearts were not at rest
until you came" so they said
...........................



10.  (508)

He who rises rises
he rises

Buto's mistress
rejoices
and she that lives in
El-Kab
her heart is shrunk
on the day in which
he rises
to the land of Ra

He has trampled down
these rays into a path
so that he may walk thereon
to his mother
who is the living asp
that is upon Ra
she is compassionate
to him
so that he may suck
thereof
"o my son   king
take this breast
of suck thereof o king
what is the reason
why do you not come
on each of our days?

....................

Keb takes his hand
and leads him
through the gates of the sky
the god is seated on his throne
it is well
that he is seated there

Satis has washed him
with four pitchers
of Elephantine water

"Hey from where did you come
my son o king?"
he has come to the nine
in the sky so that he
might eat their bread

"Hey from where did you come
my son o king?"
he has come to the nine
upon the earth so that he
might eat of their bread
........................

"Hey from where have you come
my son o king?"
he has come to his two mothers
the two vultures
with long hair
and hanging breasts
they reside upon the hill
of Sehsen
they hold their breasts
to his mouth
and never again do they
nurture him.


11.  (542) [in part]

He is stronger than they are
when he is seen on the river bank
their eyes succumb to his fingers
those who are of the sky have their guts
those who are of the earth have their blood

Poverty consumes their inheritances
the past consumes their houses
and the overflowing Nile their gates

But he is glad within his heart
his heart is glad
the one who is the only one
the one who is the bull of the sky
he has put them to flight
those who did this to him
he has destroyed each of their survivors


12.  (581)

Those who see the Nile overflowing tremble
the fields laugh and the riverbanks are flooded
the gifts of the gods rain down
the faces of men are glowing with joy
and the hearts of the gods rejoice.


               Gerken - (from Erman)
     
               16 - 17 February 1979


Copyright (c) 1979/1993 Klaus Gerken




Published by:

YGDRASIL PRESS
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, K2P 0C7