Capricorn

The Greeks get all the credit for our sky
but, as on Earth, a little dig
yields older bones.
The stars meant something in Sumer too
in first cities
rising from rivers.

Half goat, half fish—what the fuck?
Caprice? No. It's Enki,
Lord of Nudimmud—of making--
and of mischief when
cooking Men from clay
was all the rage amongst Gods.

The goat-fish was King in a
land of mud where
Ziggurats at least kept
your feet dry,
where wet earth was
pierced by first pen.

There was so much water Enki thought
it would be fun to have more,
a flood to float his thoughts on
Man's evanescence,
watching his buildings
sink back into mud.

Babel is gone, Sumer no more,
Eridu smitten with weapons.
The sky has moved, taken the old Goat
down a peg or two—but
he's still Enki and he will
surprise you yet.