The robbed tombs of kings and queens
give us few bones, some trinkets of gold
and broken pottery.

A line of writing here, a name there.
Everything else stolen long, long ago
by those who have no name now.

Thus the rich robbed the poor
to sent themselves to the life
beyond death in style.

And the poor robbed the tombs,
mutilated the bodies,
and robbed us, we who
   
would like to have a mummy
and a golden mask
to be put in display.

At least they would have had
full bellies and some fine things
perhaps, until it came time for them

to die and be put in meager tombs.
And we, we who dig up and salvage
of the past what we can,

we who ride this particular wave
in the ocean of time
leave but little in our graves

for archaeologists of the future
to find and write about.
They must consider us poor indeed.

17.01.2009