Pacific Asia Museum

46 North Los Robles Avenue
Pasadena, California 91101
Open Wednesday through Sunday 10am to 6pm

Tomb Ceramics

Taura Scott

The Talk

Palomino tells bay
the horrors
of death

The bay listens;
imagines through
clouded eyes,
his lips curl back
in disbelief.

Lois P. Jones

Acrobats in the Tomb

Tell me emperor, what spirit goods
shall accompany you?

You’re just like us but more clever.
You want your toys – a zither player
and a contortionist. A warmonger
and one billion actors for a play.
Shall we bury our ipods
and laptops? Include an old vinyl
of Horowitz playing Chopin nocturnes?
Or the Tibetan Book of the Dead?

To ensure a ruler lives forever,
bury all his soldiers by his side.