Pharoah on the Seventh Plague, by Matthew Sisson

Seventh Plague of Egypt, by John Martin (USA) 1823

Pharoah on the Seventh Plague
 
I fell in love with polished sandstone 
at ten. Cats, and Jackel-headed gods. 
Ears, snouts and claws. I could never 
believe in such creatures. 
 
My earliest memory is the cool weight 
of palace gold. I dreamed refining silver 
from billet to broach. Twisting precious 
metals into precious filigree. Matching 
lapis blue, and turquoise. Green emeralds.
I was filled with amulets and bracelets. 
Anklets and breastplates. Scarab rings. 
 
I hate palace life. It’s obsequious servants. 
Endlessly repeated abortive funerary rituals. 
The fecal streets of Thebes. It’s fetid air. 
The endless parading required. My 
mummified life.
 
Now I have this Hebrew and his Hebrew 
magic calling forth fire, hail, and thunder, 
from the sky. My Nile seethes. My ships 
capsize. My subjects drowning. The seventh 
time he has trifled me. 

Matthew Sisson

Matthew Sisson’s poetry has appeared in journals ranging from the Harvard Review Online, to JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and read his work on NPR’s On Point. His book, Please, Call Me Moby, was published by The Pecan Grove Press, of St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas.