Today you cast your words on screens Seshat
intangible like syllables half swallowed our eyes hold that flicker
and it is as if we see you wink

Today you breathe your words on silk Seshat
soft as ink licking along an ink stone black as hyphens or a tiger’s dreams
and it is as if we can feel your fingers through the fabric, caressing

Today you etch your words on paper Seshat
drawn out and in rhymes as if it matters, holy or mundane as if there
were a difference
and the closer we look the keener your absence is felt in the paper’s white

Today you forge your words in clay Seshat
as if your hands were made for this, conic nimble, swift, concise and eternal
as if you wished to show to us the worth of time

Today you fold your words on strings Seshat
faster than the yarn could flow or the stories could die
and it is as if you are talking of the suppleness of language in each knot

Today you curl your words on papyrus Seshat
as if you once had hatched yourself from a papyrus bud, curious as a phoenix
and we feel the hunger of your arts, strong as papyrus roots

Today you speak your words Seshat
take them from the treasury of your memory like your grandmother’s jewels
and whet them on your glinting lips
almost as if you want to remind yourself of their unyielding sharpness
and strength

[In elementary school, Alexandra Seidel had a wonderful teacher who introduced her to the twelve labors of Hercules. This was the first Greek myth Alexandra ever read, and more followed later during five years of Latin at school, all of which left a deep impression on her mind and sometimes on her writing. Alexandra’s prose and poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Star*Line, Labyrinth Inhabitant Magazine, New Myths and others. Every once or twice, Alexandra blogs. She is never quite sure about what. Better go see for yourself.]