Bastet by Kathleen Calby

The lion-headed Sekhmet’s sister, the Egyptian goddess
Bastet has the head of a cat and a graceful human female
body, often simply depicted as a black cat.

She strolls into our midst on the isle of Isis.

All black and luminous, this female cat. She knows

what her presence means: she is a goddess, who flaunts

her legs, aware we are already staring, then places

herself on a step as if to say, Oh, do go on. Don’t

let me stop you. And, if she were wearing

sunglasses, she would tip them down to glance

over the tops at this point, and we

would see her eyes, the color green that bears

the threat of tornados, only a slit for light to enter

and we fall through that doorway, all eighteen of us.

From a corner, an all-white male approaches;

the black one nods. The white rubs against her,

and she barely notices

the gesture, til at the end; she stretches

from head to haunch, croons a purr. Then

the white one disappears

like smoke into a crack. As we begin to walk,

Bastet chooses to follow, until she decides

to lead. Bedazzled to be in her train, we round

the temple, the sun flashing into our eyes, onto

the goddess’s golden monument. Ahh, how it was.

She advances until we see her

no longer. She must still be there

as the boat pulls away,

the air turns the color of lilacs.

Bio

Kathleen Calby lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains and hosts bi-weekly writer events for the North Carolina Writers Network. A Rash Poetry Award Finalist in 2022, she published her chapbook Flirting with Owls with Kelsay Books in 2023. Her poems appear in Connecticut Review, Slippery Elm Literary Journal, and New Plains Review, and other journals.

Author's note

A journey I took to Egypt had a profound effect on me, and I’m working on a full-length poetry manuscript that includes the gods, temples, pyramids and my experiences. Growing up in the Catholic tradition, its iconography and stories were very familiar. As a teenager, I discovered Greek and Roman mythology. So I was thrilled to learn the Egyptian pantheon, and I want to make it more widely known.

I’d seen Bastet as a black cat Egyptian sculpture in museums. She’s always depicted sitting upright regally, not sprawled or napping. Bastet is known as the protector of women, their health and as the goddess of fertility. No single Greek goddess is her equivalent, although some sources point to Artemis. When I was in Egypt on the Isle of Philae, a black cat appeared. Her demeanor reminded me of Audrey Hepburn, but I also thought of a witch’s “familiar”—perhaps Kim Novak’s in the movie Bell, Book and Candle. The feline in Egypt was definitely alluring and memorable.