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Nefertiti's Tomb: Prose Poems For The Restless Seeker
Paperback
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Publisher: Tattered Script Publishing
Pages: 290
Weight: 0.67
Height: 0.61 Width: 5.25 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
An SOS for American democracy.
Journey to the sunken wreckage of the RMS Titanic and Queen Nefertiti's lost tomb where catastrophe is woven into a meditation on power, memory, and the loss of the divine feminine.
Both lyrical and unflinching, these poems blur the lines between past and present, revealing how history continues to echo tragedy. A haunting reflection of humanity's relentless pursuit of glory, and a call to awaken before another dream sinks beneath the waves.
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From Blue Ink Review:
STARRED REVIEW, NOTABLE BOOK
Alicia Cahalane Lewis's wholly arresting hybrid project, Nefertiti's Tomb is an intriguing and ambitious exploration of history, philosophy, myth, and prose poetry.
The work is arranged in nine sections, with each poem (some untitled) centered on the page surrounded by significant white space. This visual suggests more is unknown/unsaid about these subjects than is known or perhaps even knowable. More than a sequence of prose poems, the narrative reads as a segmented lyric essay.
The complex and contested legacy of Queen Nefertiti, an influential figure from ancient Egypt, includes a possible brief period ruling the country after her husband's (Pharaoh Akhenaten) death and the enduring mystery of an as-yet-undiscovered burial site. Consequently, this collection's title is well-chosen as a frame for a feminist quest through time and space.
The book's journey is set at sea on a fabled sailing vessel. The opening line reinforces the work's hybridity in content and form: No single mode of transportation guarantees it will get you to where you need to go. This kind of writing asks readers to notice the braiding of its subject matter throughout.
In one strand of the braid, Lewis recounts Nefertiti's history, marriage, and failure to conceive a son; instead, she bears six daughters. Contemporary and colloquial language, including a twist on make America great again, highlights how an ancient story holds thematic resonance today: Akhenaten is a high-falutin' kind of guy who likes his women young; The girl is like Whatever. I'll do your bidding, Daddy, and we can make Egypt great again.
Other strands include: broader and mythological accounts of history, all presented with compelling poetic language (Like the first sail, a clock was conceived to tame chaos toward order); meditation on the nature of human, particularly female, existence, written with a dynamic lexicon (The girl tends to lose when the game is hearts, and men come after her with spades.); and ongoing meta-commentary on the nature of language, particularly poetry itself: (Brave is the sound a poem makes).
Lewis' writing is elegant, musical, and nuanced...Nefertiti's Tomb has a promising future among academic and literary readerships.
Also available as an ebook.
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