Shifting Sands Poem by Joy Dubé

Unspoken dry words
smoke signals from the past
a yellowed earthen pot
buried under
shifting sand dunes

A painstaking task
to decode lines
traces of gods
theories of oneness
with the universe

A wooden toy
beside a tiny skeleton
the child's hands placed
at his side
bracelets and anklets
adorn feet and hands
a bird-amulet around his neck
to keep him safe on his death flight

This much we know - he was loved.