Tiamat

I Am Sumerian Grandmother before time.

Men say the gods in the ether

were having a meeting.

They were afraid that I was coming (I Am!)

They were sure that I was very angry.

No one felt brave and powerful enough

to kill Me.

Marduk, god of Babylon,

boasted that he would do it.

I came then, Mother of All;

I came in the form of a dragon.

Marduk blew a wind of ingratitude

into My throat.

How did he get so close?

I Am as close as breath,

as close as a kiss!

I, the Creator, broke in two, heart-broken.

I became heaven and earth.

But Marduk was not satisfied

with what he had done.

With his sword,

he hacked up heaven and earth

into a thousand pieces.

As the pieces fell they became ‘creation.’

Then Marduk stood on top of it,

and boasted

that he had created the world.

© Tamara Rasmussen 2018