Etruscan sepulchre, Boston museum of fine arts.

ETRUSCAN SEPULCHRE,
BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

   Buried below their bed
   but gone to dust
   this cozy marble couple
   regard each other happily, half dressed
   as if to say to us
   "Hello. This is the way we woke
   day after day
   and now we're dead. Goodbye."

   For more than two millennia
   they've watched as passers by
   in anoraks, brocades or togas
   have glanced at them
   in Tuscany and Boston
   and noticed how
   they clasp each other happily
   after a good night's sleep.