Poem of the Week: Susan Scheid

     

Photo by: Kelsey Weaver        

      

When We Ruled the World

There we stood, dressed like Egyptians

or what we thought Egyptians should look like

from all our National Geographic magazines.

Wrapped in old curtains, jewels, tulle,

prancing around like we built the pyramids

while life in our sleepy Ohio town

rolled by on its way to middle America.

Men went to work at the refinery

spewing invisible gas and smoke in the breeze

while women ironed shirts and watched television.

But we did not notice the quiet turning

because we were too busy inventing pictograms,

enslaving younger brothers in our game

of carving scarabs and conquering the desert.

Ancient worlds so enticing because

the glossy pictures were clean-- 

unlike the paint peeling from too much sulfur,

the houses abandoned when factories closed.

There being no room for Egyptian princes

or pyramids in this Republican county

known for its prized cattle, corn and soybeans.

 

-Susan Scheid 

  

Used by permission.

Susan Scheid is the author of After Enchantment, her first book of poetry. Her poetry has appeared most recently in Tidal Basin Review, Requiem, Rose Red Review, The Unrorean, Bark! and the chapbook, Poetic Art. Susan currently serves on the Board of Directors for Split This Rock. As Artist-in-Residence at the Noyes School of Rhythm in Connecticut, Susan studies dance and teaches daily writing workshops for one week each summer. She lives in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, DC, where she has been a community organizer for thirty years.  Susan helped open a community-owned grocery (Brookland Co-op Community Market) and also served on its board of directors.  

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