Totems of the Past

Heads on heads. Heads all the way
down. That’s what it is: the glazed
porcelain cat on the painted poplar chest
of drawers; the television set resting
on the handmade heart-pine bench;
Jacob, a plain man dwelling in tents
fooling Esau, a hunter and man of the field;
the ancient red oak flooring yielding
to the green and brown shag carpet:
all subject to the whims of the market.
What will happen when archaeologists
find skeins of rubber mixed with shards
of porcelain? How will they see our civilization?
Will they call it glorious, our generation?