Orion

Orion
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I walk through the shifting sands of time
Past the ancient Sphinx, contemplating
The mysteries of the Nile
A Mona Lisa smile
on its weather-beaten inscrutable face
Visualizing man’s creation
For the journey of the soul

I wander through the temples and tombs
Once buried in the sands of an ancient land
Through the chambers of the after-life
Where the kings of Khufu began their journey
To the gods

And, through the shimmering sands I see
Four mighty triangles towering over me
Standing on the sacred square below
On which the secrets lie
At the apex, where the lifelines merge
I am transfixed, I am transposed, I transcend
I am a child again
Led by my father’s hands
Through the school room of life, when it all began

Like the great Pyramids that time itself fears
I took for granted
The certainty of your unchanging presence
As you held me through the rites of passage
Through the treasures and secrets
And the riddles of living
Our shared lives and your laughter
Forever cherished in my mind

I wish you’d stayed on
I wish I’d done more
But, your work was done and you had to go
The memory lingers, the finality of it all
And all the things left unsaid

I see the pyramid silhouetted
A dancing circle of fire at the apex
Its celestial beam of light
Turning the desert of the Nile, into gold
Before another crimson sunset

I look up and you are not there
The guiding light is gone
The soul you left behind in me
Weeps with the pain of the parting
Memories linger of days when our paths
were one, if only for a while

I see you rise from the apex
Where the life-lines converge
Rising like the souls of the ancient pharaohs
Rising towards the realms of Osiris
Straight as a laser
Streaking towards Orion in the starlit sky

There as a star you rest
Till the journey begins once again
And, I am just a spec of stardust
Floating like a firefly dancing in the dark