The Ghost Of Saint Anthony [first Published: The Pagan Field 1996] Poem by Steve Downes

Once I was a man like you
strong in the heart and mind
Now my spectre drifts the sands of Egypt these sixteen
centuries
across the tombs of Pharaohs
from Alexandria and the sea into the desert mountains
where only insects live and hermits come to die

No longer do I feel the burning Sun of Purgatory on
my bare back
no longer does the word of God wet my dry lips
no more do I hope for resurrection
I only pray for eternal sleep to end my torment

My shade counts the sands of time
moving as parches water
through its fleshless fingers
the carrion have abandoned my bleached bones
a scorpion has nested in my eye socket
no answer echoes in my skull to the
frozen scream of my broken jaw

I am alone
the only ghost in a godless land
I pass through a stone crucifix and Sun Gods
on ancient plaster
neither have redeemed my soul
so I will walk the Breath of Egypt
until the end of the world