Life Told Through Rap - Channel Orange
A tragic love story about "Pyramids" and how gods become mortals
Author’s note: This is a work of fiction. The only thing real about this story is the music.
“It’s nighttime and two paramours are running from the might of Egypt and Rome. The imperial nations call the names of both lovers but one rings much louder than the other: Cleopatra.
Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, envy of the Eternal City, the goddess Isis incarnate, made mortal by a curséd love.
An epic romance or an affair of political convenience? The debate will continue for multiple millennia.
No time to think of that now as the conquered couple try to outrun ‘the cheetahs on the loose’.
Poems will be written about their love, plays will be performed in their name. Their lustful liaison will inspire others to take on their resemblance.
This is what will remain of them, not their great speeches or political successes, all but their name will disintegrate to dust as archaeologists still try to uncover their tomb built on a foundation of deceit and trust.”
The woman switches off the TV as the “Antony and Cleopatra” episode on Channel Orange comes to a close.
The woman laughs to herself about the predicament of the famed Egyptian Queen, questioning how such a supposedly great sovereign could allow herself to succumb to the passions of a man beneath her station, not realizing the irony of her own situation.
The woman sprays her perfume scented with hints of cinnamon and myrrh. She applies lotion on her dark skin so that it glistens in the spotlight and heads to The Pyramid.
At home, the woman goes by one name but, in The Pyramid, she is known as Cleopatra – the vivacious vixen that attracts lines of people to see her dance. Some view her from her distance, others pay for the privilege to see her up close.
Each night, she leaves The Pyramid with a new worshipper and, each night, she finds herself in the bed of a man more fascinated with the twists of his cigars than the contours of the woman in his arms.
Cleopatra, a divine vessel, once again, made mortal at love’s altar.
Further Reading
[1] William Shakespeare, Antony & Cleopatra
Further Watching
[1] Elsie not Elise, Understanding Pyramids: Frank Ocean’s Masterpiece
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