Amber

Poem by Rocco Valentini

Artwork Sourced From Pinterest. Artist: Unknown.

Amber

by Antonio Rocco S. (Rocco Valentini)

Dawn bleeds over the Mojave
As a raven circles overhead. 
A sandstorm
Large enough to bury Ozymandias
Approaches a lone rider
Who's as ancient as the desert he explores.
His obituary is written by Thoth 
In hieroglyphs. 

𓄿 𓅓 𓃀 𓂋

The old man sags in his saddle.
His face as leathery as his boots.
His joints as loud as his spurs.
Yet his vision endures,
Despite the cataracts.
His soul remains untouched by time,
Bottled in amber,
Like the whiskey he drinks.

𓄿 𓅓 𓃀 𓂋

A relic with a revolver, 
The scent of gunpowder clings to him
Like a Ka that never left. 
He doesn’t hesitate to pull the trigger,
Though he’s no longer quick on the draw.
Even as the gunslinger’s gait
Slows to a geriatric shuffle,
The cowboy never forgets the trail.

𓄿 𓅓 𓃀 𓂋

His sun-bleached hat is like an Ankh. 
The desert doesn’t bury legends;
It simply waits for them to retire;
But they never do,
Not until the sand covers them.
And when that sand turns to glass
You can still see it;
The amber of their soul.

الطبيعة لازم تاخد الراجل العظيم وهو نايم،
معندهاش القوة تاخده وهو صاحي.
(Translation: Nature must take the great man while he’s asleep, it does not have the strength to take him while he’s awake.)

Footnote: 𓄿 𓅓 𓃀 𓂋 is an Egyptian hieroglyph that roughly translates to amber.