a lesson from Gilgamesh

My hero
you return from the shores
of your island paradise, Bahrain, home to the Far Away,
where we have found unsuspected tranquility
at the meeting place of the two waters,
freshness from the deepest wells
which join the sea salt in underwater mirth,
Gilgamesh's tears,
he who had known great love,
faithful companionship,
with Enkidu, cherished as a brother,
yet shamefully betrayed by the whims of the gods

My friend,
can you master the faith of Gilgamesh
and the strength of Enkidu, rekindling
legendary myths of heroic battles
against adversaries defying nature's power
where the Great Cedar Forest aged majestically,
destroyed by man's folly, applauded by the gods?

My hero, my love,
I have followed you to the fresh waters,
to the gates of eternity promised
after the Great Flood,
excavating traces of Gilgamesh,
kneeling before his trials, his heroic acts;
have today's gods of destiny not predicted
our life together will be of equal adventure?
May the lessons learned from the Sumerian tablets
your hourly passion cherishes,
help us to avoid betrayal
of those who would imprison us in duty --
for we also are two men, who,
in search of adventure, companionship and trust,
have uncovered the vestiges
of a long-forgotten gift of love.

My love, tell me once more
of the Mesopotamian warnings against seducing the gods,
tell me once more how they, so vain,
permitted such disaster
and how centuries later,
mankind repeats the same errors induced by arrogance…
Is there no justice?
No lesson set in lapis lazuli on the walls of Gilgamesh's kingdom?
Is there only an ill-learned suspicious idea
of our own folly throwing men into battle,
for the pretentious joy of proving,
through misaimed might,
a narcissistic notion of…
victory?

My tender companion,
we too have measured our strengths
against stronger adversaries;
for the freedom of knowledge,
for riches, influence and respect,
and even just for the pleasure of an endeavor
in buoyant company,
succeeding against the undaunted will
of our modern gods
in a complacent society
whose dictates remind us we may only fail…
let me follow your voyages of discovery,
for I have known the betrayal of my people
my mother goddess and her mortal husband
have abandoned me to err for immortality,
love, worthy of the gods,
has been taken from me
because of my mortality…

My love, when next humans reek havoc
against life itself, and hate floods the earth once more,
because the gods have still not learned
the errors of placing blind trust in humankind,
will you not lead me
a last time to the luxurious palm groves of Bahrain,
where we may walk together,
tasting of the millenniums when Gilgamesh, after great strife,
found the eternal sources promised by the Far Away,
tasting his freedom, his folly,
to act as a man, renouncing his divinity…
my love,
will you not accept my mortal pledge
to grow old in the idyll of generations, there
in the arms of your hero who has learned finally
of love?




         a lesson from Gilgamesh
         12 june, 2006
         Slam! Final Round One


Author's Note:
The Epic of Gilgamesh is perhaps the oldest written legend mankind has discovered, dates originally from 2700 BC. One of the oldest copies, signed by a writer called Shin-eqi-unninni, was discovered in the ruins of the library of Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria from 669-633 B.C., at Nineveh The cuneiform texts of the Akkadian version, written on twelve well-preserved clay tablets, are the most complete version of this epic poem, and date from 2000 BC.

Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk in Babylonia, on the River Euphrates in modern Iraq, circa 2700 B.C.. His adventures were recorded in many sources and his defiance of the gods was notorious. He was two-thirds god and one third human, and his great friend Enkidu was first created as a human with magnified animal power to punish Gilgamesh, for he was a severe ruler; but after their first battle, they became life-long friends and companions in adventure. These adventures were frequently sponsored by the gods, and frequently punished by the gods. It was as a result of Gilgamesh's defiance of the goddess Ishtar that Enkidu was finally punished by death. Bereaved by Enkidu's death and not understanding why his mortal flesh decays in its lifeless mortal state, he set out on his last quest to find the eternal secret of the Far Away, the only survivor of the Great Flood, in the land of Dilmun. In the archeology of Bahrain, there are many cuneiform references that Dilmun, the place where the spring water meets the sea water under the sea, was indeed the land of Dilmun.