“timely, vibrant, and vital”
Nefertiti's Tomb: Prose Poems for the Restless Seeker by Alicia Cahalane Lewis
A series of prose poems. A story. An incantation. A spell.
Weaving three calamities: Nefertiti's lost religion, the sinking of the Titanic, and the cracked hull of American Democracy. History repeats itself, but can we break the cycle?
“A feminist quest through time and space...elegant, musical, and nuanced.”
-BlueInk Review
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The work is arranged in nine sections, with each poem…centered on the page surrounded by significant white space. This visual suggests more is unknown/unsaid about these subjects than is known or perhaps even knowable. More than a sequence of prose poems, the narrative reads as a segmented lyric essay.
The complex and contested legacy of Queen Nefertiti, an influential figure from ancient Egypt, includes a possible brief period ruling the country after her husband’s (Pharaoh Akhenaten) death and the enduring mystery of an as-yet-undiscovered burial site. Consequently, this collection’s title is well-chosen as a frame for a feminist quest through time and space.
The book’s journey is set at sea on a fabled sailing vessel. The opening line reinforces the work’s hybridity in content and form: “No single mode of transportation guarantees it will get you to where you need to go.” This kind of writing asks readers to notice the braiding of its subject matter throughout.
In one strand of the braid, Lewis recounts Nefertiti’s history, marriage, and “failure” to conceive a son; instead, she bears six daughters. Contemporary and colloquial language, including a twist on “make America great again,” highlights how an ancient story holds thematic resonance today: “Akhenaten is a high-falutin’ kind of guy who likes his women young”; “The girl is like Whatever. I’ll do your bidding, Daddy, and we can make Egypt great again.”
Other strands include: broader and mythological accounts of history, all presented with compelling poetic language (“Like the first sail, a clock was conceived to tame chaos toward order”); meditation on the nature of human, particularly female, existence, written with a dynamic lexicon (“The girl tends to lose when the game is hearts, and men come after her with spades.”); and ongoing meta-commentary on the nature of language, particularly poetry itself: (“Brave is the sound a poem makes”).
Lewis’ writing is elegant, musical, and nuanced.
Also available as an ebook."
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An SOS for American democracy.
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Both lyrical and unflinching, these poems blur the lines between past and present, revealing how history continues to echo tragedy. A haunting reflection of humanity’s relentless pursuit of glory, and a call to awaken before another dream sinks beneath the waves.
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“Nefertiti's Tomb shows us that in the dark remnants of a sunken ship and in the tomb of a queen lie seeds for restoration and renewal.
Lewis' prose poems call in the goddess just when we need her most. This timely, vibrant, and vital work pries open the mind through arresting and unexpected thought and image, creating a portal for divergent thought; the kind that is necessary to undo the numbing lull of what's come before. In this way the goddess offers, from the chambers of her hidden tomb, something that illuminates much more potently than gold.”
—Linda Quennec, PhD. Author of Fishing for Birds and Depth Psychology, Cult Survivors, and The Role of the Daimon.
ARE YOU A RESTLESS SEEKER?
Long before time became a construct, men and women everywhere understood themselves in relationship to Earth’s polarity. It was written thus. Language lost. Ideas buried. The goddess, silenced.
These truths must be unearthed.
If you’ve ever felt lost, unable to get out of your own way, struggled to define who you are in this endless sea of overachievers, performers, and influencers, and just want to stop the clock and look back on yourself as a version that knows who they are, someone who has yet to be found, then the Restless Seeker in you is crying out to be heard.
Allow the goddess to take you on a journey to yourself.
We are at a pivotal point in “time” where what is lost will help us recover Earth’s story.
Her story. Their Story. Your story.
-Excerpt from Nefertiti’s Tomb
“If we can accept this polarity, the torn cargo hold, and the fallen debris, then we cannot fear. Evolution is motion. Thought. It's as natural as the tide. If and when we tip, Earth will tip because of us, and when we steady ourselves despite the list, we will remain upright.”
-Excerpt from Nefertiti’s Tomb
Look inside before you buy
A book is as much its cover as its content.
When Nefertiti's tomb: Prose Poems for the Restless Seeker, was in its early stages, We weren’t going to publish it.
How could we possibly get behind a book that delves this deeply into loss?
Then we had an epiphany to ask friend of the Author, Julie Miles, to paint a custom cover image for the book.
WHAT IF NATURE’S CYCLES WERE NOT SIMPLY OBSERVED BUT REIMAGINED?
“The idea of a creative collaboration was an immediate yes. I found the promise of a creative partnership with a fellow local artist compelling, as such connections and joint projects are rare and valuable in our rural community. The collaboration allowed us to rabbit hole together and feed off of each other's ideas, learn and grow and honor the feminine.”
…Read more behind the scenes of our collaboration with Julie.
About the Author
"Alicia Cahalane Lewis lives within questions and beyond answers; this requires unassuming elegance of mind."
– Joseph Braun, editor of The Lune
Mother, poet, novelist, and Reiki Master from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Alicia Cahalane Lewis offers inspirational insight and meditation guidance to help you find a deeper connection to self and the planet.