appealing

The Maynard
Spring 2018

Dana Sonnenschein
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Anubis

You’ve seen his shadow.
Narrow face, high forehead,
tall, sharp ears. You called him
jackal and believed him
imaginary like a sphinx—
the African golden wolf.

Appearing at dusk, at dawn,
fading into the sands.
He ate plagues of locusts,
pawed scarabs from dung,
took rats and fawns,
cleaned up carrion.

In his predynastic form,
you’d have thought wolf
right away. Blunt muzzle,
rounded ears. But his tail
was tri-colored; already
he was turning into a sign.

Then he went hieroglyphic,
a silhouette, seated or lying
on a tomb with a door,
his snout and ears pointed
as the stylus that made them,
his body a lean gesture

that materialized as a statue,
a black god with hands in lap,
long nose, pricked ears—
Anubis, guardian of graves,
the one who takes the dead
where hearts are weighed.

Holding a reproduction
in your palm, you might think
apotropaic or wonder why
his figure feels so heavy.
He who was in the place
of embalming
waits for you.