Laws constrain us. It is forbidden
to exceed the speed of light
in unauthorized vehicles.
There is a penalty
for going naked without a permit.
The tombs of ancient queens
shall not be robbed before sunset.
A woman pleaded guilty: "I confess
to the theft of the queen's reflection.
In the mirror I left
her baldfaced shell fragility."
Then this woman too, was hidden.
She was entombed, with a secret.
But now she stirs in darkness.
It is forbidden, this awakening.
She is emerging from the linen bandages.
The likeness she has stolen
opens obsidian eyes
as she recites the scarab:
"My heart of my mother, my heart of my being,
stand not up against me at my testifying,
tender no evidence against me at my judgment.
Speak not lies against me before the Great Gods.
Then surely you will be lifted up, living."
Eyes in the mirror... see?
the fragments are mended.
Jack Folsom
Sharon, Vermont, USA
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
