Arcane Rhapsodies - The Pharoah's Display

"Menphis - Egypte - 500before JC - Troop of funerary servant figures shabtis in the name of Neferibreheb" by Serge Ottaviani -
Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

“Lord of the Lords, my Master and King,

Act I must, at his bidding.”

The Shabti had such inscriptions carved in its stone

They all plead allegiance to the Pharaoh alone.

The Pharaoh was still King, though he was dead,

The Shabti were to toil in his stead.

There were other interesting finds in the tomb,

Riches, artwork, scriptures of destruction and doom.

All was kept in the display as was instructed,

All in all, the Pharaoh had been abducted.

The curator smiled like a Cheshire Cat,

With a final look, he removed his hat.

He secured the doors and locked the display tight,

He intended to stay at the museum that night.

He lit up the fireplace and lounged in his chair,

It was all worth it, the price had been fair.

The tiring expedition in the sand dunes,

The scorching, long and dry afternoons,

The many bribes that had to be paid

To get the permit, officials he had to serenade.

The museum would soon be back on its feet,

His business would soon be complete.

He called his wife and checked on his boys,

He hung up soon and was rattled by a noise.

He turned his attention to a packed, wooden box,

Hesitant at first, he finally undid the locks.

He opened the huge box and peered inside,

“Misha, nowhere else could you hide?”,

He cradled his cat and petted its head,

“You know better than to disturb the dead.”

He examined the Sarcophagus hidden in the sand,

“Tomorrow, the Pharaoh travels far, as I had planned.”

The cat kept busy while the curator soon slept

Unaware that a gust of sand there swept.

He opened his eyes when the sand was hurled at him,

He woke up to find the room dark and grim.

He struggled to find his footing in the dark,

He slipped but finally he lit a spark.

The fireplace lit up with greater force,

He shook his head, his throat felt hoarse.

As he turned, he gasped, he was taken aback,

He was surrounded, they were all ready to attack.

About the post: This is another excerpt from "Arcane Rhapsodies", the poem being, "The Pharoah's display". Will this turn out to be a nightmare or a dream come true for the curator? 

Hope you enjoyed reading this post.

You can find my book here:

Arcane Rhapsodies on Amazon.in

Arcane Rhapsodies on Authorspress Website

Check out Arcane Rhapsodies on Goodreads

Arcane Rhapsodies- Enter, The Playwright

Arcane Rhapsodies

Poems by Navya Jain

That week brought Henry much surprise,

A critique reviewed him, sans any disguise.

"The actors and the direction had flair,

But for the playwright, I could not care.

Even Thespis could not consume the verses,

And so he did bestow his curses.

The playwright failed to please,

Elements missing from his melodies."

So it is that Henry found himself at a tavern,

Looking for ancient tales that he wished to learn.

He hoped to draw inspiration from his travel,

He wondered what mysteries he was bound to unravel.

He gaped as the minstrel played unknown keys,

Singing ancient, arcane rhapsodies.

About the post: This is an excerpt from "Prologue-Arcane Rhapsodies" from my book "Arcane Rhapsodies". An unexpected critique urges Henry, the playwright, to rediscover his creative light and so he begins his journey. 

A word on Thespis, Thespis is considered to be the father of Drama. We've all heard the word "Thespians", right?

About the book: ‘Arcane Rhapsodies’ weaves together some known and some unknown folklore, myths and legends from around the world.This collection of short stories(in verses) takes the reader back and forth in time, in and out of fables, open to the reader's own interpretation. 

Henry, a renowned playwright sets out in search of inspiration for his verses. Explore with him, the dark and the light, the seen and the unseen, the imagination and the reality that surrounds us and occasionally binds us. Sometimes there is more than meets the eye, so watch out and don’t hold back as you embark on Henry's adventure that is bound to leave you thrilled.

Publisher's page-Arcane Rhapsodies

Oh my sparrow!

"House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)- Male in Kolkata I IMG 5904"
 by J.M.Garg (Through Wikipedia)

Specks of dust lace the window pane,

I ponder upon this concrete jungle's bane.

I sip my tea, I steal a slurp.

Be still my heart, was that a chirp?

A glimpse of feathers, chestnut brown

One of the few sparrows left in our town.

I stayed still, I watched as it perched.

How many parks for it had I searched!

It twitched its tail and chirped aloud,

It stomped its feet , invoking a dust cloud.

The tuft of brown rolled about in the hole,

Flinging dust like a naughty troll.

Finally it hopped into the chimney vent,

Its home amidst the mortar and cement.

I moved to the kitchen like a cat

And soon I heard their raucous spat.

About the post: 

This poem is based on my chance encounter with a sparrow on an idle day. I was pleasantly surprised to see a sparrow make its way into the chimney duct/vent and what followed was incessant chirping for quite some time. I am yet to make a call for repairing the vent/duct but I do not want to displace the elusive sparrows (Please take note that the chimney is not in use so they are completely safe). Time and again I have come across articles that discuss the dwindling numbers and sighting of sparrows in Delhi NCR. I consider myself lucky to have spotted them around my house.