we imagine she was a bride
the skeleton with the small skull
a Greek girl…………                     ……….her head
wreathed in ceramic flowers

in Azerbaijan………………                         ….800 BC
a couple was buried where they fell
asphyxiated…………….                       ……by toxic gas
their bones circled around each other

700 years ago two people in England were buried
their bodies dusted…………….             ……with pollen
we hope it was intentional their clasped hands
and the gift of flower pollen

4,800 years ago in Taiwan…………….                      ……a mother
was buried looking into the face of her child
who is now simply dust…………..                       ……..but still
she appears to gaze into its eyes with love

the living are currency……………..                       …..in Gaza and Israel
neither side wants to barter for the dead
now that their bones…………….                       ……all look the same
what kind of story could they tell

Maureen Clark’s This Insatiable August was released by Signature Books and received Best Poetry Book of 2024 from AML. Her memoir Confessions of a One Upon a Time Mormon Girl is forthcoming by Hypatia Press. A Country Without You will be coming soon from BCC Press.