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This poem is taken from PN Review 210, Volume 39 Number 4, March - April 2013.

pylons & pyramids Drew Milne

'It is
difficult
to know whether
the appearance of
the columns was responsible
for this word-play, or whether the
word-play determined the choice of capitals.'
Jean-Louis de Cenival, from Egyptian Architecture


ridges
of tone work
reinforce concrete
stone against absolute mud
ruined capital in the brick shithouse
said pharaonic party back to slavery classes
continuously bound to sky rock the sun how narrow
courts become machines for dying in the pillars pink hewn
down flood planes tombs for myrrh and pylons on pillaged land
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