Government Name
in ancient times
greek merchants
sailed to Egypt
saw our Nile River branching into two streams before joining the sea enclosing a
piece of land shaped like a triangle
so, true to the colonizing character of our shallow brethren
they called this child of Mother Earth a delta because she resembled the fourth
letter of their alphabet (Δ)
yet of the Spirit of the Ocean and Holy daughters of the River held in the hearts of
our most beloved Ancestors, they knew nothing and had no idea that
deltas form without the imposition of a name
And while they played these games
She took on the meaning of their 4th number and changed
nuanced, carrying sediment all the way to the reach of any body of water
did these merchants know about how her expansion of flow
decreases her flow velocity
diminishing this transported sediment
because it wills to still and build
all the while maintaining
the essence of our Mother Nile?
Her Spirit
let there be no blasphemy in remembering
that of all the deltas in this world… Mississippi, Yellow River, Ganges-Brahmaputra
this annual inundation
this pledge to feminine mechanism and life-giving force
knows the way of ‘embracing’ with love
turn around, face the morning sun emerging from the east, honor the survival
of immaculate, undefiled winds of sisterhood
dancing like a Ninja
through nothing like a red cobra
into everything with subtlety of a white dove
Her sweet breath, Her sharp wit
under wings of a northern cardinal
soundwaves, voices speak of
north African Shores
and just like that,
arrives in human form
may we recall The Nile Delta’s Essence was known by earlier ancient Egyptians as
SHE WHO EMBRACES and SHE WHO GATHERS
Her Mind, Her Soul
let there be no guilt in dreaming about
a deep dive into the moist, dark, powerful mind of the Nile Delta
setting the stage for the birth of intelligence, mathematical genius, wisdom
mm-hmm, she whose parents named her Shirley said 44
the honorable 22 or 2+2 equals four sisters of African lineage
saw the handwriting on proverbial walls and read the numbers
on the 13th day of the first month of the 13th or 1+3 equals four years of the
change into the 20th century divided by 5 equals 4
placed right next to Sigma,
the 18th letter of the Greek alphabet added to the 4th equaling 22
add that to the 9th Greek number theta or 9 equals 31, 2+2, 3+1, 1+3, 2+2
Adams, Murphy, Pitts-Campbell,
and was it planned or coincidence when you marched?
that you broke racial chains and moved out from segregated sections of the
women’s suffrage parade
and took your seat on 3/1/13?
Her Body
let there be no shame in embodying the Nile
for she sustains with perch, catfish
protects with soft palm and sycamore trees
and on their way home, your brilliant beauties
still in time
will to drop the idea of serving self
build for all who will follow in her footsteps
though headstones top their bodies
She who dared to break glass ceilings, rip brown paper bags to shreds
live to transport souls from one place to another
Daughters of the Dust
male merchant persuasion can neither compete for the light in your eyes
nor handle the beast resting in shadows of your being
so, keep nurturing
The Unbought
The Unbossed
and when the embrace of your natural mother grows frail
rest your head on the lap of what remains
ya’ll hear them coming….
shhhhhh…………..Listen….Listen
respect
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©Copyright 2022 by InnaRae Guy
Photo Credit – NASA