Precursors

4196 Precursors
sonnet for Andrei Guruianu


A four-tiered painting in Saqqara tomb
Showed variable composition style:
Tall jars in rows lend upright feeling while
Flat, laden plates diversify the room

With horizontals. Offerings that loom,
By bearer, butcher brought, the mind beguile;
The feast-provisions, each a gleaming pile,
Delight the eye; and dancers, lithe, illume,

In allegory, merit which the tongue
Will speak in lyric, sweetly to be sung
With vigor by musicians. To what end?

For tribute. I'm Egyptian, too. For me
The thing that can distinguish poetry
From madness will be this: to have a friend.

     --copyright by Martin Bidney 6/26/11