Allison Burris
Egyptian Pet Cemetery
An excavation of pets preserved
in the desert. 536 cats, 32 dogs,
15 monkeys, a fox, and a falcon.
Not mummified, but precious loss
wrapped in blankets, palm leaves.
Some were toothless old seniors
wearing beaded collars, cared for
beyond the life of their teeth.
Somehow, it’s easier to imagine
the sun-warmed life of a happy
feline than the object of a scribe’s
longings through millennia of sand.
One cat was laid upon a bird’s wing,
a wish for an afterlife filled with feathers.
Allison Burris lives in Oakland, CA where you can find her reading and searching for whimsy. She has a Master’s in Library Science and her work appears in various journals like Passionfruit Review, Hoxie Gorge Review, Heartlines Spec, and Metphrastics. Connect with her: https://linktr.ee/allisonburris