CW: imagery of death (bones) and the implication of being buried alive
archaeology | ar· chae· ol· o· gy | noun | the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture
Come to me, to the empty halls and graveyards, walking in the footsteps of those who once lived here, and carry the satchel your mother gave you on the day you left home—leather with a brass plate engraved with initials of someone you barely remember.
Kneel—in the dirt before the great trees, where the wildwood reclaimed the land, and excavate the skeletal remains of the consequences of our actions— with a timid heart, and steady hands.
Take my bones with you, and give broken thanks with me today, futile prayers sent back through time to ourselves when we struggled with our rabid youth and self-obsession, not caring that the shovels we carried were digging our own graves.
Stand and look around, and
realize you are standing with me in yours,
and lay your shovel down before the walls grow too high to climb.
R. S. Brandriff (they/he/she) is a writer, poet, and software developer living in the American Southwest with their two cats and far too many coffee mugs. They write about love, neurodivergency, and the apocalypse, and you can find them on Twitter @_hedgebones writing microfiction, and on their website, hedgebones.com