Archaeology

You dig because that's your job. You sink your hands in the mud and you spend time with the human ribs in the dirt. That time has washed away. You dig because you have to Because the professor told you to look "over there" and to "make yourself useful." So you do, and you dig. You sit side by side with the silt. With the ash and clothing and hair. You have supper with a skeleton. You pick your teeth with finger bones you pulled from the clay You are covered in sand and sloppy wet ground up to your elbows Because for a few minutes you were down on your knees Face to face with the past. Reminiscent of a prayer.