The Archaeology of Human Remains

We were children in the garden.

There were some frozen remains we found beyond the merry-go-round.
Skin intact, eyeballs crooked, an eyebrow missing, a sullen smile, wishes in her eyes. We stared in wonder.

Years later, we saw her again.

Preserved now in amber in the Museum of Human Remains, stripped of feeling and the solemnity of a snow burial, she looked on.

Child-like wonder boxed in glass, an archaeological specimen: Fragile, handle with care.