Empire Inspired

(are we there yet...?)
 
 
letters borne on white billowed sails
flags of distant land  flying
all hail the descending royalties  
smug fat faces shiny and smiling  
oh how they exude benevolence  
 
bend the knees, palms to forehead
deities from the skies, all hail  
never a step missed  
never a frozen face frowned  
words of welcome murmured  
never above the safe decible  
 
they are greedy girth spanned wide
deny them not their food and drinks  
born of the peasants sweat  
palsied fingers paying  
gaping mouths of treasuries  
or else the tilled land of corns are theirs  
 
say not a word or dungeon becomes your home  
write not even on sands for they see all  
trust not in the smiling face of a friend  
for one hand hide what the other does  
work, shackles on your neck to the yoke  
of the keeper of the coins  

Pale faces with peeled eyes
speaks with seeds in their mouth
thrusts the people towards white walls
killing shamans with their books

a trumpet's call a world in chaos
their fingers burnt and they let go
they receded to their island
they are great no more

freedom comes with welded pen
that write a king to his throne  
with the pen man can push him to the ground  
where dogs may not deign to spit  
 

 Birthing empires can prove painful things    
this wedding of church to murderous thieves,    
their names matter not, Pharoes, Tzar or King    
they've no faith, stealing land is their belief...
     
In strange empires where sanctioned faith rules    
in conspiracy of priesthood and sword,    
each bolsters each terror reign on duped fools    
forced to believe their bible's ev'ry word.    
     
For sure they were force fed their killer faith    
ripped from innocence with fear poured in heads    
" You will do god's will " say priests " here on earth"    
" We teach his word, hark, or, be struck down dead!    
     
I've spied empire builders now, be damned,    
Lying, grifting, thieving, bible in hand.

      “What was coming was so beyond evil it made the Devil shake
He ordered immediately through demonic sacrifice to seal Hell’s gate,
      “God even stepped off his magnificent throne
To create an impenetrable barrier around Heaven’s home,

      “It was reported as a normal category five Atlantic storm
Which produced a haunting wind that was not the norm,      
      “Its rain bands made materials fragile like dead leaves
That also amplified the deadly effects of any virus or disease,

      “The storm reconfigured into a roaring Tsunami wall
With a length that stretched from Miami to Niagara Falls,
      “What was strange, the storm winds did not have any strength
But it affected the body and soul like a sinking ship,

      “It struck the American Atlantic coast at an incredible speed
Causing the stars on the American flag to fester and bleed,
      “Years of a nation’s selfish ideology fueled its own slaughter
That increased to inhuman levels contained within the American border,

      “Thousands of illegal aliens in a panic tried to cross back into Mexico
But melted under a hot sun from being turned into statues of living snow,
      “All who breathed the storms wind became consumed by their sin
Freely acting on their impulses with a blood lust wicked grin,

      “Politician minds transformed into snakes that exited from their eyes
To feed on their flesh, because of broken promises and horrible lies,  
      “Cities and small towns instantly were overrun by mutated freaks
Blood flowed in the streets as beast dined on sweet reproductive meats,

      “Lightning strikes in the Midwest set ablaze hundreds of miles of grain
In which black living flames hunted flesh without shame,  
      “Along the west coast from San Diego to Seattle
The unbridled raging elements killed millions like diseased cattle,

      “Twisted missiles of mass destruction launched from a chaotic nation
Impacting upon an unstable world with hellish devastation,
      “In a nuclear flash orgies of violence and savagery reigned supreme
Spreading the uncontrollable nightmare of the chaotic American dream,

      “Those who were common good now living in a world of chaotic strife
Were hunted, raped and crucified upon cannibalistic wood of antilife,
      “Furious prejudice-destructive hate had no bounds
As untold numbers ended their life by blade, poison or gun round,

      “But floating within the storm sat a dark figure with a wicked smile
A Dark Judge who orchestrated the chaos, bringing humanity to trial,
      “If humanity could not get along-acting like hungry rats in a maze
Then they would be brutally forced to get along as broken slaves”.

Act (1)

Summary:
Anna, daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, is summoned to her father's court. Sargon describes how he occupied Sumer and how he captured king Zage-Si and had him paraded into the city with a dog leash on his neck before killing him. He tells his daughter that he wants her to become high priestess of the temples of Uruk and Ur. At first she refuses. Finally Sargon appoints his daughter as high priestess and bestows upon her the title of "Enheduanna".

Setting:
In the great throne room in the city of Akkad. Sargon is sitting on his throne. Anna is waiting.

In the land where time began.
Before words were written down.
Where man began to lay
cities with stone and clay.
Kingdoms emerged
and died, until one man
finally came and merged
all in one, gods as well as man.
Two people he did unite
and set the world alight.
His name was Sargon the Great
And this is how he changed the fate
of the world with his kin as bate.

-Court Announcer
Her highness princess Anna.
Daughter of King Sargon the Great,
ruler of all the lands and seas,
beloved of the Gods Anu and Enlil,
destroyer of men and beasts.

(Anna enters and stands in front of her father in silence)

-Sargon
Welcome my daughter.
You look beautiful as your mother.

-Anna
Thank you father.
Your words give me great honor.
As they do Queen Tashlultum, my mother.

-Sargon
I am sure they do.
Do you know why I summoned you
to my court my daughter?

-Anna
I am yours to command.
I will do whatever you wish.
I am of your blood and flesh.
Your eyes, your ears, your hand,
Oh Great King of Kish.

-Sargon (laughs)
I see I have chosen wisely.
Your tongue is as quick as your wit.
I need that where I want you to sit.
I need that ever so badly,
as much as your beauty and every bit.

-Anna
You have generals and many others.
Swarms of men as well as my two brothers.
All able men that serve you like no other.

-Sargon
True....
But non is suitable to the task in mind.
I have a plan to bring to light.
I have conquered Sumer and Akkad.
Rulers and Kings brought to abide.
Cities and towns fell to my banner.
Walls of stone crumbled and fell aside.
Even their great king Zage-Si
I paraded in the streets like a hog,
with a leash on his neck like a dog,
before I killed him with my bare hands.
However......
One task is still left untouched.
Men's hearts need to be conquered as much.
And that is a task that needs your delicate touch.

-Anna
That is a task impossible to grasp.
Only the gods can win
men's hearts or forgive their sin.

-Sargon
That is precisely what I need.
Someone they can love,
serve or heed.
Someone even the Gods could appease
as well as men's flesh and souls to please.  
I need the high priestess of Uruk
on my side.
I need the priestess of the temple of Ur
and her might.
I need every god, goddess, every man, woman
to abide,
under my rule.
That is why I need you on my side.

-Anna (angry)
FATHER!!!!!!
but I am your flesh and blood.
You need a witch, a harlot and a slut!!!!!

-Sargon (laughs again)
Your mother would have embraced this deed.
If not that her health and hair so gray
she would have begged for that which I say.
She was a priestess and a harlot indeed.
That is where we met before I gave her my seed.

(Sargon is angry now. He stands up and shouts at his daughter)

Your escapades of love are well known.
Shouts of lust have even reached our court.
So don't pretend innocence as shown.
We are all the result of passion of sort.
Your mother, my mother we are all the same.
You know your father. I don't.
but still...
We live and die according to the will of the Gods.
And their will is now my own.

-Anna
Please forgive my insolence, my King.
I spoke in fear, my Lord.
But you are sending me away,
to lands still hostile to our way.
The cities of Sumer are still in sway.
They revolt every single day.
You need an army to keep them at bay.
Not a priestess with the Gods to pray.

-Sargon
That is where you are wrong my child.
I need the calm to stem the wild.
I need the high to ebb the tide.
I need the passion to steer the mild.
That is why I need you by my side.
I need the high priestess to be their guide.

-Anna
You honor me with your words, my Leigh.
But can I do all the things you say?
I am only a woman I might add.
Please relieve me of this task, I plead.

-Sargon
It is not for you to chose to be.
It is for me. And you are mine.
And thus I chose you as my Ensi.
My ears to hear, my eyes to see,
to rule men and mold the gods.
Bring them all to kneel to me.
That is why you are to be, my En.
The high priestess of Eanna,
the light of Inanna, and wife of Sin.
You are to rule the great Uruk,
as well as Ur, just by the sea.
The great cities of Sumer are yours.
But don't forget.
YOU...
belong to me.

-Anna (kneels in front of her father)
I am yours my lord.

-Sargon
Let it be known from this day on
your name will be Enheduanna,
priestess and adornment of An,
king of all the gods and man.
Let these words be written in stone,
chiseled on clay and sung at dawn.
When the light of Inanna shines,
every mornings, evenings, alone.

Note:

1- Kish - one of several cities states in Mesopotamia. Sargon was the cupbearer of the previous king of Kish. He ousted him and took his place before establishing his own empire.

2- Ensi - Sumarian language meaning a ruler of a city or governor.

3- En - another meaning for a ruler of a city or governor.

4- light of Inanna- The planet Venus is the first heavenly body to shine in the evening sky and the last to disappear in the morning.

5- the first form of writing was chiseled on clay tablets.

In the heart of an anthill, a tiny realm unfurls,
where diligent ants toil, their purpose unswerved.
Their queen, a regal soul, her mandate clear:
“Build, gather, thrive—our empire we revere.”

Her majesty, a minuscule monarch, yet grand,
commands her subjects with an unwavering hand.
She wears her crown of purpose, not of gold,
for in unity they labor, their story told.

The anthill pulses—a bustling metropolis.
Each worker a bricklayer, a tireless optimist.
They weave tunnels, chambers, intricate veins,
their labor a hymn to the earth’s ancient strains.

But beyond the anthill’s earthen walls,
lies a world vast and wild, where destiny calls.
Other empires rise and fall, their grandeur fleeting,
yet the ant queen persists, her purpose unyielding.

She dreams of empires beyond her sandy domain
of towering cities, rivers that kiss the plain.
Her antennae quiver with whispered tales
of queens who wore crowns of stars, not scales.

And so, she sends her emissaries forth,
tiny explorers, brave souls of boundless worth.
They traverse blades of grass, climb dew-kissed stems,
seeking secrets hidden in nature’s diadems.

In the shadow of oaks, they find their muse,
a queen of another kind, her throne recluse.
She wears no earthly crown, but one of light,
her empire vast, the cosmos, infinite and bright.

“Dear ant queen,” the cosmic sovereign imparts,
“Your realm may be small, but it beats with heart.
Embrace your purpose, your humble domain,
for ants can shape empires, leave a cosmic stain.”

Her gown is most beautiful  
horrific horizon    
I have worn it many a time    
totemic death maiden    
carving myopic  
eyesight  
 
someone blew into    
bewildered salt  
preforming polluted  
litany    
 
watered    
through an  
oceanic  
cymbal cloud  
marshes wept dry  
   
did we see to it?  
passing on stories  
the stillborn lands tell  
do we hold these words?  
into our lap  
 
or  
will we river  
death  
away  
   
a lone foal wind plays  
    
Tuonela can you hear me    
bring to me your long lost lake    
rippled rubies await me    
hidden under  
white muslin crowns  
   
we offer libations  
optical luster  
spring mourned  
 
peeling dark syllables  
from my eyelids  
into  
    
necklaced arrow    
upon your chest  
my body lay    
    
primordial offerings    
bled through your frost bitten lips    
dried salt leaking through your torso    
    
we witnessed the swan star constellations    
in sacred communion    
burn not these bridges    
    
descend with me    
bring each old bone back to me    
let me cry through    
ceramic eyed  
breathe  
 
red ochre  
now    
swim  
speak    
into me    
my initials      
death spelled  
 
 
 Ⓒ Copyrights owned by rianne

With her feet firm,
she stands resolute,
absolutely captivating
as she radiates,
creating a visible aura
of defense.

Intensity is so high
some are left blinded.
The open-minded
could see her glory.
Stories told
of ethereal glow
showed no justice
to her presence.

Sense the strength
in her divine grace.
Lacing my hands together
in prayer.
Scared straight
into believing,
leaving faith imprinted
on my soul.