Gilgamesh Poem by Kojo Owusu

Desconsolate - gone - the mask of Enkidu the confluence of fraternity
Of the euphrates and tigris interlocked on spire with eternity
Herald of enmity from above - united in faceless wrettsling
Friends for life on the perilous path of heroic adventures - now on a glum egde listen- to our heroic quest battling strange creatures the magic of the bond
Here, where the lapping call of deluge of the flooding wheels
Undulating- the ancient caryatid of the mother goddess weathring
A cry in the distance - demise undreampt of
The curse of the heavenly bull - the dome decree of the heavenly denizens
With my sword unsheathed I GILGAMESH Lord of Uruk must needs
Challenge the flagellating hound of darkness sent by the gods
No frightening vistas of fevered adventure threatened which was not foiled
No - my heart is wrought with clangorous metals of battle
ISHTAR - No before me lies kingdoms of the twin rivers which
I hold sway - and reverence on the lips of the golden race issues out
Like torrents of rain competing with the EUPHRATES and the TIGRIS
To pay me homage- why did you tempt me then with the cowardly offer of love?

To oblivion on the dark lowermost echelons of the underworld you dragged my
Eternal companion for assisting me in slaying the dark heavenly bull
Wheels of epochs striding vast across millenias of punishment - bound
In chains of the dark lord -

I will be free from the clutches of the dark lords of the underworld prophesying doom I will be free from the promise of decay-
I will embark on another journey of epic grandeur
This time not to battle strange creatures but the dragon that
Eternally suffocates immortality -
I will embark on a journey to discover the secret of eternal youth

At the edge of apocalypse I sought for the sage UTNAPISHTIM who sagging
With ancient wisdom recounted the great flood that onetime covered the earth.
Hesitant, patient not to unravel the anger of the denizens of above
The wise one revealed to me a plant bestowing eternal youth in the sea.

I dived into the sea for the plant. Poised with the plant to avenge the demise
Of my companion and the prospect of the land of uruk - the secret to eternal youth splendid - in mortal quandary I lost the plant to a serpent-

The land of uruk stretches far away
My numerous adventures brought me back to the twin rivers
Now aged ruler of uruk

The land of MESOPOTAMIA lies far way to the east
The EUPHRATES and The TIGRIS moved along twin paths gently silently
The cuineform slanted wedge like on the clay tablets

And as if filled with life they resounded the dillema of GILGAMESH
The eternal youth thou seekest for is granted to thee
Thou art famous forever, GILGAMESH