I have trod these cobbles before,
these Alexandrian dreams
I have trod these cobbles before,
these Alexandrian dreams
where there are messages
writ in the heavens
and the Intelligences
of the planets dance,
where I walk
with Powers and Principalities.
In former times,
when the stars have grown strange
and Antinous the only asterism
I could find in the sky,
have I turned away
in search of familiar streets;
but I must not fear --
I will lay a wreathe
at the mausoleum in Hephaestion's name
and say a prayer on the steps
of the library for murdered Hypatia.
I will not yield,
nor turn away, until
I know these streets
as if they were home.