See wolf and vulture, headdress clues,
Anubis, hieroglyphs laid bare,
but core I see is symbolware.
So many want to claim that ankh,
as gripped in hands, as tipped to lips,
that cross, its top bar, loop of tear,
held gift to pharaohs, deities.
So culture, pagans, sub of Goths,
and Africans who’ve left their shores –
tomb raiders in a flatter guise –
though imitate, sincerest praise
A Unicode as for it alone
triliteral, three consonants
in sequence, unsuits western tongue.
So what a leap from those of Nile,
to data, qwerty, hex and codes,
like hieroglyphs, unless you know.
Stephen Kingsnorth (Cambridge M.A., English & Religious Studies), retired to Wales from ministry in the Methodist Church, has had some 300 pieces published by on-line poetry sites, including Poetry Potion, printed journals and anthologies. https://poetrykingsnorth.wordpress.com/