Archaeologists
Archaeologists found
the first erotic graffiti,
chiseled by two soldiers
on a cliffside rock
high above the sea—
to celebrate their love
on that island, always.
They were no different
from Auden or Cavafy
or the scribe of Sonnet 55,
longing to fix in stone
what every morning
must die, not sung
by the nightingale
but by the blunt,
relentless lark.
