Inscription in a Freshly Opened Tomb

I lived in this Egyptian grave,
as Eternity
passed me by
like window shoppers, gaily-dressed;

sun beating down on a shopping parade,
brightly coloured paper bags
and clothing lush with twining patterns,
strewn across my cinema screen.

As all about inside the tomb
were carvings of the great journeys,
the men who walked through doors
among the stars,

the godesses who stood astride
the prows, as a royal procession
sailed through the skies,
and every kind

of animal hybrid, on pillar,
plinth, and rind, now confined
to my cellar.
I lived in this Egyptian grave,

a thousand hot and languid years.
Mayhap, a thousand more.