The Mummy

In the darkness of a sepulcher

beneath the shifting sands,

the mummy stirs within its sheath

of rotten linen bands.

Inside its stone sarcophagus

beneath the pyramid,

it moves its cloth-enshrouded hands

and pushes back the lid.

It arises in that chamber

where no living thing has stepped,

in that chamber chill and airless

where for centuries it has slept,

then it stumbles through the mazes

of the labyrinthine halls,

and with powers supernatural

beats down the earthen walls.

Now it walks the scorching desert

all its being filled with rage,

ancient rage it’s borne for eons

since a dim primordial age,

and it staggers blindly onward,

mud-encrusted, caked with clay,

and it permeates the desert

with the stench of foul decay.

Now it must unleash its fury,

spew the venom of its wrath,

and woe to those poor souls who cross

the mummy’s mindless path,

for the mummy will destroy them,

they will perish, wracked with pain.

There is terror in the desert

for the mummy walks again.

—from The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight - More Poems to Trouble Your Sleep
by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Arnold Lobel

Close Reading/Vocabulary

1. Read 1st stanza and ask students to read the rest silently
2. Have students look for "cool words" they don't know
3. Have an essential question "How did Jack Prelutsky demonstrate his knowledge of ancient Egypt through this poem?"
4. Graphic organizer--have them give evidence
5. Share with others in their group/class

taken from Jaeger, Paige. "Close Encounters of the Complex Kind." Library Media Connection. January 2014. (available on EBSCO/Pioneer)