Utnapishtim Takes Gilgamesh’s Hand

Humbaba never tires,
Never sleeps.
Protector of the Cedar Forest,
He inflicts eternal unconsciousness,
On naifs and wise alike.
Irony abounds.

“Enkidu, what men do is nothing,
Nothing, my gentle friend,” Gilgamesh suggests.

Shamash roasts Uruk at midday,
Making the elders, reposing on the rocks,
Conferring on the shores of the mighty Euphrates, nervous.
“Gilgamesh’s plans are overzealous:
To fight the natural order, overthrow destiny,
Revolt against death,
Unthinkable attempts.
Young man’s vanity –
To attain immortality.
Are these not dangerous notions?
Sensible people think so.
Overly impressionable –
He’ll get himself killed,” the elders agree.

Once again,
Darkness falls over the majestic river.
A raven descends from the entrails of Anu,
As the Bull of Heaven
Knocks Enkidu,
Senseless to the ground.

Gilgamesh swallows hard, nervously,
His palms cold and sweaty.
“This is the struggle, the eternal strife.”
He pleads with life:
“What is the cause, whereabouts of endless effects.”
Only to find more pain, timely questions.

Enkidu’s life was aborted,
Like the castrated light of a winter day,
Not knowing how and why,
A mere child he.

“Utnapishtim, you have savored life,
Ea is your protector, your friend,
Please tell me why?
Give me your wise words, old sage of Shuruppak,
I must know why.
Share your wisdom, why don’t you?”
Gilgamesh begs the old sage.

“You should not have come here,
You must not have entered my kingdom, boy.
My boatman will pay a price for this indiscretion.
You have shattered my peace.”

“Tell me, please.
Eternal life I seek,” shouts Gilgamesh,
Tears flowing down his youthful red cheeks.

“Young man, return to your people,
They await you in fear.
You alarm them,
We must not desire what we do not comprehend.”

“Utnapishtim, I cannot bear the weight of my friends’ death,
I must understand or die.”

“Gilgamesh, you have offended Ishtar,
Queen of the Universe.
You have laughed in the face of her father, Anu,
God of the sky.
Great danger you have sought.
Your life is in peril.
You must leave, at once.”

“Wise one, please understand…
Has not my life always been like a feather in a storm?
Wise one, time offends us.”

“That is the order of the world, my boy.
You must learn to embrace, accept.
Do we make houses to last forever?
Do not floodwaters eventually recede?
Why do you seek to live forever, callow one?”

“Because master,
I am Gilgamesh.
I am no other.
I am I.”

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