On Choosing a Tomb

He says he wants to see Solomon's
tomb, the Ark of the Covenant, and
treasures that turn dragons a shade
of muted emerald. Furtively search
for goldenized trinkets, interlinked
with lore, centuries of holy and unholy
magic, uncover amidst long lost dust
what archeologists somehow missed.

And truth be told, I am somewhat
surprised by his necromantic notion,
that maybe he could surpass centuries
of scholars, scald time's thin skin
with a bout of brilliance that would
have historians drool in envy. But
who am I, if anyone, to judge - me

with my lowly ambitions to return
to Concord and Author's Hill, just to rub
the stone of Thoreau? We all have our
preferences, I suppose - our own pursuit
of the vapid what-was, what never again
might be. Of fire. Of hydra. Of possibility.

Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, copyright April 6, 2024, all rights reserved