Poems of the Week

Strange Ramifications

by Alex Steelsmith

“A collection of craniums… 2000 mummified rams’ heads [unearthed by archaeological researchers]
may have been an offering to Egypt’s Ramses II…”
—National Geographic

History mystery,
mummified crania
waited millennia,
buried like yams.

Maybe it isn’t an
archaeological
shocker: for Ramses, they
sacrificed rams.

Prominent, dominant
ancient authorities
dictated, “No other
creatures will do.

“Gods are appeased by our
etymologically
accurate offerings;
Ramses is ll.”