BEYOND OZYMANDIAS

Grim irony is weaved through human history,

pulling down the mighty dead

to sinkholes among the living poor:

The hieroglyphs in the memorial chapel of Mentuhotep II

(2008-1957 BCE) in Abydos,

praising the pharaoh

who united the Two Lands

after two centuries of strife,

and brought forth three centuries of prosperity,

being eroded by waste

from a leaking sewage tank

built in 1935.

12.07.2020