To the Chariot Boy of Soğmatar

They found your darling toy in a forgotten grave:

Greying head huddled around with bespectacled eyes

worn hands exchanging their precious find.

But it was never really theirs to begin with, was it now?

You remember Father’s gravelly voice like rolling

hills, ruffling your hair as you pushed the mini-chariot

around. Mother’s moon-face looming over your body

twinkling eyes full of laughter. You went to sleep that night

full of barley soup and goat cheese.

And never woke up.

They laid you carefully on your side, a few gold coins

and placed the chariot in your folded hands.

Five thousand years later, it sits upon a cushion

in a state-of-the-art glass enclosure

while you remain lost to time.

5,000-Year-Old Toy Chariot Unearthed in Child Tomb in Turkey