They had thought of everything

in preparing him
for his journey across the river
and his meeting with Anubis.
There were the gold adornments
to enhance his glorious countenance.
(And could it have been otherwise?)
His sacred cats had been preserved with him
so that they might sit in their lordly,
insouciant way
in the next world.
A beloved servant had been slain
in order to continue his service
in a higher dimension.
The great king's internal organs had been
thoughtfully placed in beautiful
jars, not far from their original home.
There were even delicacies
of meat and drink to nourish his soul
as his spirit self traveled
to its eternal home.
And as I examined the pictures
of it all, I felt a twinge of sadness
come over me.
Not because he had died--
but because he had
believed that
those carefully wrapped packages
of preserved beef
were going to come in handy.