I never met my only sister <br />Never saw her save in dreams. <br />Sometimes she dressed in drifting mists, <br />Or else in filmy robes she lazed <br />In shades of lapis lazuli and chrysoprase. <br /> <br />Silver rings on her slim fingers, <br />See her dancing in the moonlight, <br />Swirling hair and golden skin. <br />I never met her, never kissed her <br />On the lips, breathed in her incense, <br /> <br />Heard her sing. I often sought her <br />In the mountains, through the thickets, <br />By the sea. When she whispers <br />In the springtime as the sun sinks <br />In the west, I will follow <br /> <br />Her wet footprints through the sand <br />And down into the hollow caverns <br />Underground, hear the sound of distant breakers <br />On the shores of darkened seas <br />Where the serpent waits his prey. <br /> <br />Far, far away, deep in the night <br />Shines the light of a moving star: <br />Through the murk and the fog, fully armed <br />Her crew on the watch, a vessel approaches— <br />The Boat of Ra with all the gods. <br /> <br />My sister in her glory on the deck <br />Calls to me across the water, <br />Will I come and join the crew, <br />Sail with Ra and her to be happy <br />Ever after in the Kingdom of the Dead? <br /> <br />Note: The ancient Egyptians believed that each night Ra, the sun god, with all his fellow gods and goddesses sailed in a boat through the night seas, fighting off all the evil demons and especially the evil and immortal serpent, Apep, which sought to swallow and destroy them. After what must have been a very stressful and tiring voyage they emerged at dawn.<br /><br />Pete Crowther<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/my-only-sister/
