The ancient Egyptians culled animals
from the wild, then they farmed them,
much like we once farmed and culled–will always
cull and farm. Now archeologiest study

their nature: the dry mummies, the valuable
frame of a chariot. These artifacts are studied
by our American scholars, each funded 
to their dollar amount: the cats, wise

-eyed, still; wildface dogs; wild-snouted
and weak-jawed crocodiles;
the more exotic pet, the ibis:
so delicate (an MRI showed one, its eight babies

in one irregular but tiny sarcophagus. 
you can see their baby ibis feathers,
well-preserved). Each one
represented a prayer.

I means, there’s a beauty
in what’s hidden. I mean,
history is important:
Glittering silica sandstone walls

in lantern light, explorers saw
opulent catacombs. Dreamed
of them. But in the end, I think over this:
how the rich came to Egypt

and took it home, how some would rather have left it all
underground.